The Asylum
by BlossomCherryTree
Summary: Imagine being locked in a small, white room, strapped to the bed, unable to move or think. About a girl who has always known her small room and dreamed of the outside world shes only heard about from the nurses outside her door. Her small world changes when a certain pale, red and black themed jester is sleeping under her bed.
1. In the Beginning

White. All it was was pure white. It was shaped like a normal hospital room, but white. The sheets on the beds were white. The curtains were also white. And now looking at it, the water looked white. No other way but to say it was white.

It was also very cold. A white spray painted vent on the ceiling blew down over the bed. The sheets were so thin, you go to sleep every night in a little ball, not being able to feel your toes and if you are lucky to get to feel your hands.

It was hard to scratch your back in one of these beds. Because for the most part, you were strapped down by legs and most times the arms. Image frantically kicking in bed, but you can't go anywhere, but the tip of your nose feels funny.

At first it was thought of a speck. Then a breeze. Then hair. And somewhere far along the road, you got to the point where you feel there was something living sitting there. You can't see it, because now it's black.

You can't touch it, because you are strapped down, and you can't cry out, because no one will come. The trick to staying sane here was to think of nothing. Most people were here because of what they thought or remember. But think of nothing but white.

Sometimes I like to think of orange or blue or some other color sprayed on the walls. There were rare occasions when I would give the slightest smirk as I shivered, seeing the rainbow of 20 different colors I never knew along the wall.

But I didn't like to smile or grin or anything. It makes the purple rings around my eyes look worse. It was also hard to count the days. There was a window, but it was well hidden beyond the white. In my free time, I liked to feel the wall to try and feel if I can find it.

It was okay for me, since all I could see were shapes and colors and… And that's about it. I could barely see, so I never used my eyes. I used to use them when I lived on the outside world. But there's no point in using them when they are in this concision in this place.

But I liked it. It sounds a shame. A half blind girl. Not really. Because if you know how to make the best of the bad, you get new things or positive things that you will like in time or find useful. Because thinking the worst of bad things and never the good, can lead to what you will always remember quicker. Like most of the people in here.

Now you must be thinking. I sound so smart and wise and not insane. But where I sit and where I stay and what I say, says different. I didn't like to talk, because everyone thought I was crazy. I didn't smile because it creeped people out.

What a shame. I am living in this world to please people. But if I don't talk or smile or do much of anything, people worry I am ill. I am ill, but not ill enough to be in here. But it was quiet. So quiet.

The outside world seemed so much worse. Maybe not for all of you, maybe not for most of you. But there are people like me and maybe you who know this truth without me telling it. Somethings a better left untold then exploited.

And something's are better kept secret or hiding then reviled. I find it better for people to not know unless absolutely necessary. "No, I did not do that." "Yes I did do that because…" It was simple. You could tell when someone was lying, because no one knows how to because they never found it useful.

It's like acting, but all you are doing is reading one simple sentence you made in your mind. Here there is no need for lying. Here I can be open. Because no one thinks it strange to be the way I am here. If I was good for the whole week, they gave me a treat.

I would ask for a cookie, they would give me two. Once I asked for cake, they gave me a little cookie. But it was ok since it had caramel in it. If it was your birthday and you had been good, you get cake. But it was bland and cardboard flavored.

But there was something new that was happening. I hear an extra pair of footsteps outside my door every day now. I got so many ideas. Maybe there was a visitor for someone, or maybe somewhere getting let go… Or maybe they were escaping. But there would be an alarm, so I had to cross that off.

It was a normal everyday day as far as I knew. The nurse came in, gave me my pills, and asked if I was ok and slept well, I gave her my honesty. Then she left a little annoyed. So I sat there. Today was extra cold.

I wasn't used to it, so I pulled the sheets over my head and around my body. If I take a simple breath and let it out all the way, I could see it just the slightest bit. When I saw it the first time, I stopped shaking and then right away started again.

My teeth chattered as I looked for all the corners of my room again. Then I heard someone. They were talking. So I was guessing there was someone else.

"This is a horrifying idea." One of them said. "But it is ordered for each AND every one of them." The other explained. "Yes I suppose." The other gave in. You see, I have this supersonic hearing. Because I have some of the sixth sense and my other senses are stronger because of my lack of eyesight, I could hear past my three inch thick iron door.

The door opened and one walked in. "Hey…" I heard in a nice voice. I looked start ahead of myself. "Do you want to go outside for a little while?" The women asked. I looked slowly over at her. "Yeah, I got your attention didn't I?"

She started to slowly walk over. I flinched back. She stops and backs up. "If you want to, just get out of bed and take my hand." She holds out her arm. I kept shivering. I took off the sheets, but as I started to slip off the edge of the bed, I grabbed hold of the sheets.

The floor was even colder. "I can get a nicer blanket and let you keep it if you come with me." She offers with a higher pitch in her voice. I let my toes touch the floor as my white night gown fell with the rest of me.

I wobbled as I tried to stand up right, but I had to hunch a little. I slipped, but she grabbed me and slowly guided me out of my room. It was still white… What good was it to take me out if I still saw white? Or more of it I suppose…

We stopped. "Stay right there." She says very slowly as she carefully let go of my arm. I tried to lean out and grab her, but she was already too far away. She takes out keys, I knew because of the familiar jingling noise.

So put it in a lock and opened a door. "Now… I can give you grey or white, but you can get away with a special color if you like…" I opened my eyes a little wider as I see a rainbow. I right away tried to reach out and grab one, but she had to hold me back.

"Just one…" She says as she struggles. I then grabbed a black one with a dark red inside. Or it could be the other way around… "Okay, is that the one you want?" She lets me go. I wrap it around myself and get one my knees and curl up a little.

"Alright then…" She lets out a deep breath. She gets me back up. Now I just wanted to go back to my little cell… "Have you ever been outside?" She asks. I slowly shake my head. She paused. "Well, it's a bit of a gloomy day, but it's better than nothing…"

We kept walking around an endless maze until we got to a bit of a warmer part. And there were these giant double doors I have never seen before. She took out her keys and opened one of them. Then heaven dropped in.

When she lightly pushed open the door, a bright golden ray of sunshine came in. It was faint, but I had to cover my eyes. Birds chirped and it almost sounded like there were angels nearby. "Oh, that's just the church across the street…" She pushes me out a little.

"Maybe one day, I can take you there." She seems to smile as we go out. But when we actually got outside, the sunlight faded away and the birds chirped lesser and lesser. The sky was grey and foggy like. It was a little chillier than what I remembered it to be, but it was better than that room.

She let me go as I walked barefoot on the cleared pavement. I just kept walking. We were standing alone out there. The sides of the dark red bricked building we were just in felt like they were trying to pull me back in. All the windows were tinted black from out here.

I could go running, and running and sprinting and... I thought all this as I wobbled farther away. She stopped me after a while of walking away. "Sorry, we have to go back now..." She takes my hand and guides me back.

My eyes still burned from the light of outside. I saw strange glowing things appear in my sight, then disappear. I then rubbed my eyes and look around. As I did, I could SEE out my window. It was night... I think.

There was something shooting across the black so it must have been something. If I make a wish, it could give me hope that someone out there is still watching over me. "I wish for a friend..." I say lightly.

A nurse came in, looking rushed. "What is wrong?" She asks. "I was just talking to myself..." I look right ahead. She sighs and closes the door. I lay back and counted the seconds the light would turn out.

4...3...2...1... Pitch black. I dreamed of what they would look like, what they would sound like and smell like. It was fuzzy, everything, even their smell. As I slept, thinking this, I had a nightmare. I didn't have a single memory of it, it was just scary I guess…

But it must have jinxed my wish, because now when I opened my eyes in the dark, I heard a voice. Oh god, oh god... Its nothing, you're insane remember? I tell myself. But the voice kept saying something.


	2. Chapter 2

"Wake up sleepy-head, wake up and smell the blood..." It said clearly. I wanted to scream so badly. You're in a dream! Your mind is taking over! No more sun! Its is NOT good for you! I repeat that to myself.

Then I felt a hand on my tied down arm. I stopped breathing. It was a skinny, cold hand with long fingers and long nails. I let out a small cry, thinking I was still dreaming. But were you supposed to feel this scared? Like your arteries are going to explode?

"Calm down! Calm down!" It chuckled. "I won't harm you... Well, not that you would know of..." It whispers in my ear. I open my eyes wide as I felt something on my cheek…

A long, snake like slimy tongue licked all the way up from my neck to my forehead. I was holding my breath, keeping it all back. "I can see you, but you can't see me..." It whispers. I lost it.

I started to scream violently, trying to kick frantically. The thing moved away from me as footsteps skied down the hall. The light poured in over my bed as two shadows appeared. They turned on my lights and ran to my bed.

"Whats wrong with her?" One nurse asks. "I don't know! Get the sedatives!" The other points as she tries to calm me down. But as she got close enough, I bit hear noise. She screamed as she backed away.

A few more nurses came in, needles and pill, straps and water in hand. They ran over, all giving me shoots in my arms, legs and one in the side of my head. They crushed up the pills they could, put them in the water and made me drink it.

I couldn't fight it, or yell, because the shoots made me go limp and the one in my head made it hard to move. But it just made me think it was hard to move. "Jesus, that should keep her down for awhile..." One looks around as they started to leave.

Once again the door was locked tight, then lights off, and I was alone. Or so I wished. Whoever was there stood by me, I could feel their presence. "God, its dark in here..." It says. Then a small match was lit.

It held it under their face, revealing themselves. I tried to scream, but I could barely move. A pale blue face with extremely large icely blue eyes with dark streaks that went through his eyes, or what it looked like was that he drew it on with eyeliner. Black lips for a creepy smile and no eyebrows.

I could make out that it was a he, but the fact he had a surprisingly round face was odd. He blew on the match a little, making it brighter, so I could see more of him. He had on a jesters hat, with large strips of red and black, curving back behind him slightly.

He had no neck, but a large purple, ruffled collar. Then was his shoulders. His head floated in place above it. "Hello." He grins. I couldn't do or say anything now, but listen to him...

"Oh... You look so miserable..." He shakes his head. I slowly blink, waiting for him to introduce himself. "My mistake! I forgot to tell you who I am and why I am here!" He grins. It sent chills down my spin. I couldn't show my fear, the pills made my mind turn into a swamp.

"I have many different names…" He says. "Yeah, I can name a few…" I try to say, but it was just a moan. "Yes, yes, that is funny. But because you cannot speak my home language, you will not be able to say most of them…" He goes on.

"So… You can just call me Reala. That's what my main name translated to Latin. Whats yours?" He asks and walks around the bed. "... That's… Quite the name you have there, pacient 13… I'll give you a better one…" He looks at me from the end of the bed where he put the clipboard back.

"I'll come up with one soon…" He says and stands back next to me. "Sorry I had to scare you like that… I did it so they had to drug you so you wouldn't try and hurt me…" He looks down.

"So…" He looks around. He goes back to the foot of the bed and turns around. He takes the match and seems to expand it. He then walks to the wall by me and puts up the light as if it was a torch.

He was rather tall. He was also pretty thin as well. He had muscular arms though. long skinny legs and large feet. He had on a red jacket with black outlining that went about halfway down his torso and looked really snug on him. On his chest were diamond shapes that went from purple blue then red going down.

He had black lines for scars and… Wasn't wearing any pants… I mean, there wasn't anything there, but still… "That's a bit better." He stands back from it. He looks back at me. He comes over and loosens the straps.

"I'd take them off, but I am afraid you might jump at me." He says, taking a step back. He then, floating, sits, crossing his legs, putting his claws on his leg atop the other. "What... Are... You?" I ask, sitting up as best I could.

"Who me? Can I ask you something first?" He leans in, big grin across his black lips. "I'm Human… Now you!" I demanded. He looks a bit surprised. "Dear Wizman, when was the last time you have socialized with people your age?" He asks.

I narrow my eyes and he sighs. "I am a… Do you really want to know?" He asks, rolling his eyes leaning back. "YES!" I say a little loudly. "Fine… I am not from this world…" He simply says, eyes closed, and gestures with his hands.

"Yeah, no shit. What are you?" I lift my head up more. "Well, its your fault anyways…" He looks down. "Huh?" I give him a look. "You made a wish from a comet that has not been seen by human eyes for over 2 millions years. You are the first one in 2 million years and you wished from it." He says.

"That comet is not from this world nor for it. Its from my world. My elders said that it contains an unlimited amount of power. And because no one believes in magic and pixies-!" He does jazz hands, "No one would wish on it. So when you did, you got what you wanted because of the power it has. But, you were dreaming at the same time and here I am!" He smiles.

I just stare at him. "You still don't get it, but that's cause I'm not telling the whole story…" He stares at me with no emotion as well. "I live in a world where… Oh, how do I put this?... A world of dreams if you will." He shrugs.

"So... You're not... Real?" I grin. "No, I am very. Just from another world, another dimension. A world where dreams live. This is not my first time in the humans dimension. But anyways, in my world, you're dreams live on there… You go there in your sleep. You know how they feel real? Well, they are, but when you wake up in the… Is it called a 'morning'? Well its fuzzy and you can't remember?

"Because my friend, you may better know him as the sandman, makes it so its hard to remember, or its very vague. I was… Lets say I was helping you, and then you grabbed me as you awoke. So I scared you at first, then made sure you would get drugged so I could talk with you." He says.

I look down. "Yeah, thanks to you, Master is going to be very angry, and I didn't get any Ideya!" He crosses his arms. "What? Are you secretly insulting me?" I ask. "What? No. Its the power source there.."

"Does everyone in your world look like you do?" I ask. He seems to laugh, but it was too creepy for me to remember if it was a laugh or not. "Of course not! Master needs to be able to tell us apart! And besides… I am a nightmare after all…" He looks around.

"My nightmare? I am not afraid of some Harley Quinn gone wrong!" I shift my arms. "Oh really?" He asks. "Yes! Really!" I stand my ground. "Well then -!" As he talked, he jumped at my face, inches away, I could smell his breath.

His eyes expanded, turning a light blue, his mouth much bigger, he showed off razor sharp teeth, larger than my head. Acid dripped from his fangs. "Want to see what happens when your heart explodes?" He asks.

"No please!" I panicked. He then sits back, letting his face turn back to its original state. "Good girl… You are a girl right?" He asks. "Yes…" I nod slowly. "Huh…" He gets up, and goes to the end of the bed again.

He picks up the clipboard and reads it. "What? You have… Childhood antisocial behavior, Dyslexia, Major Depressive Disorder and Impulse Control Disorder? There's four more on here as well... Wow, your messed up..." He says. "Thanks." I grin. He grins as well. "No problem." He goes on reading the clipboard.

"God…" He looks up at me. "This place is WAY too nice for you!" He puts down the clipboard. "You can fly?" I asked after a while. "I think so…" He says as he almost lets himself go lose and tumbles in the air. "...Could you break me out of here?" I ask. He stops himself and looks at me.

He floats over to the bed and rests his head in the palm of his hands. "Ill make you a deal." He smiles. "This place isn't half bad. Its quite, dark, and comfortable for me. And my dear sibling isn't here to ruin it for me." He says with a big smile, showing off his fangs.

"But…" He rolls around as if on the floor. "If there is the chance or I come up with a good idea, I will get you out of here, and make sure you are safe." He looks back at me. "Cool, lets do it-!" "Wow, wow, wow! Slow down! I haven't even given you the catch yet!" He gets in my face.

"Oh, right, sorry...Well then, what's the catch?" I ask, looking unconvinced, arms crossed over my chest. "Well… You see… I was brought from my world… My home… And I would like to go back…" He looks over at me from across the room.

"So you want me to help you go home?" I ask. "Yes." He blinks slowly. "And how in the world am I to do that?" I ask. "Well, you, my dear girl, have somthing I need." "Need, or want?" "I need your Ideya…" He says quickly. "So you need my Idyea, which is your power source, to go home, which you can do on your own, and I will be away from here." I discuss our plan.

"Wow, you're smart!" He almost giggles. "What is an Ideya?" I ask after a moment. "If I remember, its courage, growth, Intelligence, hope… And… Damn, what that last one?" He asks himself. "What?" I ask.

"Ah, yes its Courage, PURITY, thats the one, Intelligence, Growth, and Hope… I should know that!" He says to himself as he slowly spins in a circle, in a sitting position. "What are you talking about?" I ask aloud again, but he talked over me again.

"Purity isn't all that important… I mean, oh, you humans know… But I guess, if you still have this faith of 'There is meaning to our short lives!', but, you know." He says, eyes closed, still spinning.

"What are you talking about?" I asked. "Right, I'll remember you are smart, but you are also in an insane house." He grins. "I am talking about what you asked about." He says.

"Wow, that explains everything!" I almost laugh. "Those things I just listed are the five Ideya. In order for every humans happiness and success, is if they have all these things." He explains. "They're like little ball of energy inside of you."

"You have…" He says, flying over to me and un- strapping me completely, making me sit up and put his claw on my shoulder. "Intelligence and… Hope… That's an unusual combination." He takes his claw back.

"Why?" He asks. "Well, usually you have none… And sometimes you'd have one like purity, but that only lasts so long with you silly humans. And courage seems a bit more popular now…" He thinks.

"But its funny, we should really just take purity off the list! Its rare now- a - days and a girl your age would lose it by now…" He chuckles. "Oh yeah? And how old are you o' wise one?" I ask.

"Well, I am ever lasting unless killed by irregular forces… Meaning I will live for all eternity." He says. "Yeah, I know what it means." I say as I got bored, but how can I be, this is insane! I feel like i am talking to myself! "Well, in human years or my years?" He asks.

"Both." I sit back. "Well, even though a day in my world is a night you're world, I'm ahead by a small number… In my world… I'd be 43,000 years old. But in your years… Maybe late 20's." He thinks.

"That makes no sense." I say. He looks down at me. "Yes it does." He says after a small pause. "HEY!" A voice echoed from outside the door. I jump and Reala looks at his nails. "Who are you talking to?" The voice asks as they pull out the familiar sound of jingling keys.

"Hey! Hide!" I say in a loud whisper. "Why?" He shrugs, still looking at his long nails. "They will see you!" I yell. "Hey!" A rather large woman stands in the doorway of my dark room. "See who? Is someone HERE?" She asks. She wobbles over quickly and looks around.

"You crazys make my skin crawl." She shivers and leaves, locking the door behind her. "Wow, she didn't even notice that you were sitting up, un- strapped. Great service!" He says behind me as he floated around.

"Where did you get that?" I ask and point to a nail file in his hand. "I carry a lot of things…" He says. "Your so called 'morning' is coming soon. Its a sun that rises and sets as a the moon?" He asks. "Yes." I look lightly over my shoulder at him.

"We have a moon, but no sun. We have light that works as the sun. Master says that the sun could burn us to death…" "Like vampires?" I ask. "Are you a vampire?" I ask. He stops filing his nails and looks at me blankly. "What in the hell is a vampire?" He asks. "Its a supernatural in a humans body... They can't be in sunlight because it will burn them. They drink blood and can do a lot of other things…" I explain.

"Well it sounds ridiculous!" He goes on filing his nails. "Why are your fingers yellow?" I ask. He then, sighs dramatically, looking upset, and puts the file back in his small jacket. "Because that's how I was made." He grins a little.

He looks out the window. "I should really get going…" He says. "But to where?" He says to himself. He looks around the room, trying to find a nice place to hide. "I might as well try and rest." He sighs and crawls under my bed. "What are you doing?" I stick my head over the side of the bed and look into the darkness.

"I'll be back later…" He says lightly. I didn't hear anything after that. The sun was coming up soon. I might as well strap myself up again so they don't notice.


	3. Chapter 3

Sorry for not posting for awhile, just didn't have the inspiration and I got caught up in 'Eagle Feather', my other story. Plus, its the ending of the school year and I have been busy with tests and this speech and stuff. But you guys don't need to know about that... And if you have, thanks for sticking with me! Enjoy!

* * *

I got to thinking later that day... What if he can open up a black hole under the bed? Or keep me up with nightmares for fun? He's just waiting under there, about to pounce at me… I could not bare it if he turned into some strange form and haunted me in my sleep… Will he try to do that?

It made me nervous… Just thinking… Will he do it? CAN he do it? … And this… Master of his… He seemed so worried about that rather than getting himself back home. Is he some sort of slave? Or is that just the way things are in his world?

He seemed so strange. Not saying that because he was from a completely different world, but… It was him that really got me thinking. If he is real, and he is really under my bed and really is trying to go back home, couldn't he just steal my Idyea by force?

And is there any proof that he isn't real? If I ignored him for a while, would he just disappear into thin air? Maybe being here is just making me go insane. I think I'm somewhat sane. I know that I do have mental illnesses, but I could make it on my own out there, i'm sure of it.

I slept all day and into the late evening. One nurse gave me my food then. They have to give everyone one meal a day at the least. So they woke me up later so that I could eat and didn't do it in the morning.

After I was done she came in and took the tray and gave me my pills. She then strapped me down, closed the door, and lights went off right when I counted for them. There then was a loud yawn that echoed in the room.

"Ah, it's good to be up again, sometimes I don't like sleeping." He crawls from under the bed and a strange black and dark blue fog comes from under it.

"Christ." I mumble under my breath.

"Well hello there, young child!" He lights a match and instead of putting it on the wall, he blew on the flame and simply let it float in the air. He came over and unstrapped me.

"Does everything float where you're from?" I ask.

"Ha, of course not! Well, actually…" He thinks for a moment. "Forget it." I smile. "Wow, don't do that." He points to my face.

"What?" I ask. "Oh…" I get rid of my smile and look down. It was silent.

"Reala?" I speak up. "What?" He asks. "Do you have a family?" I ask. "Yes, in a way." He rolls his eyes with a sigh.

"You either have a family or you don't," I say. "Yes… To a certain degree…" He thinks for a moment.

"What family do you have in a way to a certain degree?" I look up. "Well, I have a sibling…" He looks down.

"Whats their name?!" I sit up with an excited look on my face. "Why are you so happy?" He asks in disgust.

"Maybe there's something interesting in this!" I point to him.

"Nice scars." He points to my arms. "Thanks, I like yours too." I put my arm down.

He grins. "Well… My siblings name is NiGHTS." He looks away. "NiGHTS and Reala, huh? One messed up family." I lean back.

"Thanks, patient 13." He looks back with a fake smile. "Any others?" I ask.

"Well, many others, but me and NiGHTS are siblings because we were created at the same time, the others are like step siblings, but you can still… How do I put this… I could still copulate with anyone, but NiGHTS." He says lowly.

I just stare at him for a few minutes. "I could have a significant other but it can't be NiGHTS, because he is my sibling." He summarizes.

"Oh, no sorry, I knew copulate was to have sexual intercourse, I just wanted to see how many other words you had for it." I grin.

"You really something… Different." He floats around the room again, still looking at me.

"What does that mean?" I ask. "You are just not like other humans, thats all." He shrugs a little.

"Is that an insult?" I ask, sitting up, watching his every move. "Not really, but…" He floats over and placed his long fingers on my face gently.

"Your skin is really… Dark, yet pale at the same time. And your nails are really long and sharp, sad eyes, scars everywhere, not as attractive as other humans…" He looks over my face.

I pulled away with an annoyed look on my face. "You have some good qualities to," He says lightly.

"You have long legs, and big eyes, and long nails, you can use them as weapons… You're hair is really long, you're nice to talk to and…" He looks down. "Are those qualities of your kind?" I ask.

"Well, are those compliments common among you humans?" He asks. "I wouldn't know! I have never been out of here!"

"Sorry…" He looks down. "But no… Not among my kind, we are all SO VERY different. But I like these things about you." He grins.

I just kept my eyes down and away from him. "What? Never gotten a compliment before?" He asks, trying to look for my eyes. He had an angry look on his face and I refused to look upon it. No, I had never gotten a compliment. Its not that simple to get a compliment from a nurse in here. I still didn't say anything.

He kept looking at me. "Just don't, okay!" I yell at him.

"What is with you humans?!" He asks. "You are all so cruel and cold to-!"

I had to cut him off and say, "Not like you, we sure arent!" I point out.

"No! To eachother! You are all so mean and angry! Why? You kill one another! And ignore the ones who really need help! You think you're so great! The only worthy species out there!" He swang his arm out for dramatic effect on 'out there'.

"You are no more arrogant than I!" He points to his chest. "All this war has done is destroy even more of your world." He points to the window.

"War?" I sit up a little more. "What war?" I try and look at the window.

He went silent. "You don't know do you?" He tilts his head. "Why would they tell you though?" He turns around.

"Whats going on?" I ask, starting to get out of bed. My bare feet hit the cold ground, sending a shiver through my body. I was wobbly but it was steady enough. "Has there really been a war?" I walk towards him.

"When have you last been outside?" He responds, still his back faced me. "A few weeks ago, why?" I ask.

He then turns and holds out his claws. It looked like he was giving me a high five, so thats what I did. He sighs. "Almost, you almost had it, almost..." He gives me this look.

"Keep your hand to mine next time," He says slowly as if I were a child. My hand slowly made its way back and touched his claw. There was a short silence that lasted forever.

"Is something supposed to happen?" I ask after a while. He takes his claw back and sighs, eyes closed. "Do you trust me?" He asks.

I didn't even have to think about it because the answer was already "Yes," I say lightly. He placed his feet on the floor. He pulls me near and wraps his arms around me. "What are you doing?" I ask.

He didn't respond. He lightly floated off the ground, then moved to the other side of the room. "Ready?" He looks down at me. "FOR WHAT?!" I started to freak out.

Head first, he flew right for the wall. I held back the scream as we moved past the wall. I saw how think the wall was, how many layers there was… What? Next thing I know, I see grey, dark green and grass.

The grey was from the amount of smoke that arose from all the buildings below. Below… Below? Looking down I could see in between the buildings and little people walking around. The green was the color of the sky. It matched a line of two with six men in each lines uniforms. They were everywhere. They were carrying something over their shoulders and marching together.

To the west of the city were tall, green, rounded hills and to the north were green fields that went almost as high as the mountains. We approached the tallest building and landed on top. "Wow!" I get a big grin on my face looking around as if a new animal in a new place.

"How come no one saw us?" I turn back to him.

"We were transparent." He says as if it was obvious.

"Wait… Can't you just take me out of here like this?" I question.

"Well, of course, but only for so long. If I could break you out and get you a little ways into the city, I could get you to blend in and then I could get you out of here." He looks around.

"I just want freedom." I shrug with a grin.

"No need for a fancey escort out." I look back at the city.

"Get a good look… This will be one of your last." He sighs, sitting down, one leg to his chest the other extended out.

"Why?" I chuckle as if it was a joke.

"When they hear about patients getting lose, they will be looking all over. I want to get you out safe." He looks down.

"I can't go any further… You're earth smoke is getting into my system…" He placed his claw on his chest.

"This is a horrible sight, compared to rest of this world." He looks back up.

"This is the center of the war…" He grumbles. "I am not so sure on what its about, but this world broke like a spine." He stretches.

"This is the worst of it all…" He gets back up. "You just see the first layer. The second is the peoples lives, the third is the battles, and the fourth is the secrets and tourcher under it all." He explains.

"All I know is that…" He starts to say as he stands up.

"Its ugly."

It was strange hearing him say it. I can't explain it, but I was a good strange, a bittersweet. I liked his voice. It was the only one I really wanted to hear. Even if he can get a little irritated or annoyed quickly, he was nice about it. As hard as it was for me, I knew I couldn't get too close to him.

He would be leaving soon and I would be left alone without a friend. And even though he does not know too much about this world, I don't want to be left alone in it when I am finally free. Just… Not yet.

He looked out with me. He got back up and sighed. He looked really tired. It must have been that smoke, but I think he has been looking like this when he first got here. Thats when I knew he had to go home. He must have missed his friends and family, people that WANT him back and I could not stand between somthing like that.

He picked me back up and flew me back through the wall and placed me back on the ground.

"I would like to get you out of here soon." He admits.

_So you can go home, _I thought.

"So, we must prepare you…" He floats around me, examining me. He thought for a moment. "You're english is fine, but maybe walking and regain some strength would do you some good." He points to the idea.

"We will start with walking, then maybe some fighting, just in case…" He landed on his feet.

"Fighting?" I ask as if he was joking.

"Well, yes! You never know if you will need it…" He holds my hands in his.

"Now, you can walk, but how well can you walk?" He asks and looks at my bare feet.

He then took a step back and had me do the same with the same foot. He then stepped back with his other foot, having me do the same.

After a while, he had me walking at different paces and making me more steady on my feet. "Its kind of like we are dancing." He grins up and me a few nights later when I was getting even better.

And then the next few months or so, he taught me to fight. It was a huge fail at first, but after another day, I was able to punch Reala in the face and get away with it. He also taught me other things about the real world and things I might need to know. My fear arose in that time but I embraced it.

After the end of that training, I laughed for the first time and you know what? It felt great. But it was even better when Reala laughed along with me. I had to laugh longer and snort a little, his laugh was the funniest thing I had ever heard in my life.

We must have laughed to hard, to loud, because loud footsteps came booming down the hall from outside the door. "What is that I hear?" A woman with a deep voice yells at the door.

I stopped laughing right away, but Reala was removing the tears from his eyes with a little giggle. "What? Are you still afraid of that busty woman?" Reala stops laughing and crossed his arms over his chest.

When the door opened, the light poured in over my eyes, making me cover them and I looked beside me to see Reala was gone. I looked back at the nurse and she was walking towards me, she had closed the door and I was completely dark now.

"I've about had it with you retards! You are just laughing away with yourselves and I'm stuck at a dead end job cleaning up your shit!" She complains.

She then grabs me by the shoulders and shakes me a little. "Are you listening? Can my voice get through your thick skull?" She yells a little louder then hits me upside the head.

She was about to do it again but I grabbed her large forearm and looked up at her with dark eyes. She tries to pull away but she just kept looking at my dark expression. She then was able to pull away then choked me with her large hands around my neck, this I could not do a thing about.

Her cross necklace dangled from her neck and in my face. "You are the devil! Evil, aren't you?" She counties to press my neck into the bed. I reached my arms up to her face and tried to push her off as my breath was near gone.

I looked up at her curly orange hair and the white cloth over it. And in the corner of the room by the ceiling, deep blue eyes turned into purple eyes glowing. I kept looking over there as he crawled on the wall and jumped on the woman's back, pulling her back and off of me.

"I'LL RIP YOUR HEART OUT!" He threatens in a deeper voice as he chokes her. I sat up a little and tried to see what he was doing.

He had her in a choke hold and was raising his arm up into the air. As it was in a certain position in the air, it turned into a purple fog like smoke covering his whole forearm. He then reached inside of her as if a gosht and pulled out something large and pinkish red that was bleeding in his hand.

He showed it to her and squeezed it right before her eyes rolled into the back of her head and blood rushed out of her mouth. He let her body fall to the ground and looked down at her. His eyes turned back to its normal color and the purple fog disappeared.

He looked at the human heart in his hand and then turned his hand into that fog again and put it back in her. He then went to the bed and ripped a metal rod off of it and started to violently hit and stab her with it. He then hands the rod to me and opened the door slowly.

I just looked confused as he rushed back to me. "Do you trust me?!" He asks quickly. I nod and took deep breaths.

"Good." He points. He looked into my eyes. Thats when we looked at the door to hear footsteps running down the hall to see the open door. "I'll be with you the entire time," He says and disappears behind me. I looked around to see he was gone.

"Get from under the bed! I need you!" I screech and kick the bed and not even the purple fog showed up. He left me…

A woman nurse, the one that had given me the blanket saw the blood on the floor and me standing there, shaking from the cold and holding the metal rod like a bat in my hands, acting like a vampire against the light.

She screamed and ran down the hall and before I knew it, an alarm went off and flashing red lights and a loud noise rang my ears and made my head hurt. I dropped the rod and put my hands on my head, cringing to the sound and closing my eyes so the flashing lights didn't give me a seizure.

But something woke up my mind and made the sound disappear, yet it was still there. "I'm here, I'm here. Just relax… Like to told you… Like I showed you." His voice wraps around me like a warm blanket in the winter.

I looked up and everything seemed different. I was able to stand up straight and take a deep breath. I picked up the rod and started to walk for the door but looked back. I went to the end of the bed and grabbed all the papers for my information and then started for the door.

The woman was back with two other men, talking in a strange language. They were wearing the same uniform I saw when I had first went outside. They had guns and she was pointing her finger at me. They then aimed at me and said something in that language.

I took a deep breath and they suddenly slowed down as they came towards me. I then raised the metal rod and hit it over the head on the one closest to me. The other tried to grabbed me as he was close enough, but I grabbed his hand and hit the side of his face with the rod and was able to run past them and the nurse sat there wailing.

The lights were not very strong, everything was still white, but the lamps were oval shaped and there were plenty of dark corners around. I started to take off as time came back to its normal speed. I found a staircase and jumped over the railing and landed on the last two steps. When I opened the door, three more we're waiting.

I grabbed the one closest to me and banged his head against the door. I jumped over his slowly falling body and kicked the second one in the face so hard, teeth and blood flew out. The third just looked at me as I came for him with the bar. He ran but I threw the bar at his back, causing him to hit the ground and groan out.

"Bad back?" I ask as if feeling bad for him. "I'll take this. Thanks." I grin and pluck the security card off his jacket and pick the rod back up.

I kept going down the hall and look looked around. Reala directed me to a large room filled with files. I found patient 13 and grabbed all the papers I needed and put them in the other folder under my arm. He then guided me to the room next door and had me pull the switch to release all the patients by opening their doors.

It will buy me time. More lights went off and I heard the screams of patients already. I made a run for the front door and used the man's card. I heard loud sirens over head as I reentered the foggy air. It wasn't as thick as it was before, but the air still felt just as real. I want to stand here for a while, but Reala, as if outside of my body, kicked me.

"I'm going, I'm going!" I complain. I ran down the street and into an alleyway where I watched cars pull up and men get out of them. I turn and kept going. People were leaving their homes to see what was happening, but did not notice the girl in the white nightgown running between buildings and splashing her bare feet in dirty puddles.

While they were distracted, I entered an empty store and grabbed clothes, supplies, and food. I ran out and changed in another alleyway by a dumpster. I threw the nightgown into the trash and filled a bag with everything I had gotten. I put the bag over my shoulder and walked down the street causally.

I wanted to smile, but I knew it would creep people out. I wanted to smile because I was free. I was casually walking down the street and no one looked at me twice or stared at me. It was as if I were always here, just another human being…

"You're not free yet!" He scolds as I held as this happiness within myself. 'But I'm so close, I can feel it!' I think aloud in my mind.

"Not just yet… I need to get you out of here! When they find out, or if they find out, they will interrogate everyone in the city! So if you want to be a normal human, you need to be somewhere where you can start over."

We walked for a long time, we must have walked miles. We were getting to the outskirts of town and thats were we decided to stop. There were old, crumbling building that looked abandoned. Some were ruins, and some where just a few piles of broken bricks. There was no one out here, so I or we were alone.

"Go into one of these buildings." He says. I did as he said and went into one that was still intact and went up stairs. There was a hall with many doors, so I went to the one at the farthest end and entered a empty room covered in dust.

"Hold on…" He says as I close the door and start to walk more to the center of the room. But before I could make three steps, something stung, as if stabbing in my chest, I stopped and held myself up from falling.

I closed my eyes and when I looked out, I was in darkness. But it only lasted a minute, for it was just Reala in that purple fog like form, leaving my body… From my mouth. I just stare at him and kept my mouth wide open as he had left it when he left my body.

"You can enter a human body from anywhere…" He gives a wicked grin. "But there is only so many ways out and I didn't want to make you too uncomfortable..." He turns away from me. I nod and stand back up, still horrified from what just happened.

"You're lucky no one noticed you looking like this." He walked back over to me and adjusted my clothes.

He then used his claws like combs with his nails and fixed my hair. After he did all he could I spoke up. "You can take what you need from me now." I smile. "I can make it by myself." I nod.

"But I haven't completely helped you." He looks surprised. "Reala…" I start off slowly.

"You have taught me a lot. Its been months since we first met… You have given me something… I can't explain it, but when you told me you could get me out of here for some silly word that you would take from me… I was determined then to do what it takes. You showed me how to fight and speak and… I can't give you anymore then my Idyea and I don't want you to help me any more than you need to…" I stare right at him, still smiling.

"Would you say I have given you courage?" He asks. I think for a slow second but then nod. "And that I helped you grow?" He asks again.

I nod again. He thought. "Maybe…" He thinks to himself. "You can take my hope." I walk towards him slowly.

He looked into my eyes as we stood a foot from each other. I try and smile again, hoping it would convince him a little more. He got just a little closer and was about to speak.

"No." Was the only word that left his black lips.


	4. Chapter 4

Okay, so this time I don't have an excuse for not posting lately. You'd think that for someone like me, I'd post more often when I have WAY to much free time. Yeah, so, sorry if you've been waiting so long. It summer and I have the power to do nothing productive. But here! Wish I could make it longer, but I'm a little tired. And I hate it when you are left with a cliffhanger and then you have to WAIT! So I feel bad for those who care. So please stop reading this and get on with reading my story! Enjoy~

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"I am taking your intelligence." He corrects me. I look paralyzed as I backed away from him.

He then gave a long, crazy, laugh. "I am not taking your intelligence, you silly girl!" He wipes a tear from his eye. He then stops laughing and grins.

"I am not taking anything from you." He explains.

"Why not?" I ask surprised.

"You just got these things. These wonderful things that no one else will ever know the feeling of! I mean, sure people can get there Ideya back, but you got it back through pain and suffering. You waited… How could I take such a wonder feeling away from you?" He asks with a smile.

"Reala…"

"I refuse to take anything from you… And besides…" He pulled out something from his chest. I couldn't react, I'd seen so much.

"I found a replacement." He holds up a glowing ball of green. It had what looked like a spiked crystal inside it and a green colored orb on the outside. It floated above his claw.

"I stole it from that dead woman," He says with a grin.

I then think back to when he pulled her heart out. Did he really pull her heart out? Or was it really just her Idyea, and he had just killed her some other way? Why was he doing this? Was he sparing me from the pain? Maybe it was a trick. He would have to kill me to take my Ideya, which would be freeing me permanently in a way. And he did not want to kill me because he grew to find me entertaining.

I then explained these thoughts to him. After I ended my thoughts, there was a silence between us. He then started to laugh again. "You girl-! Hahaha! You-! You think I would have had to KILL you?! Ha! Stop it! You make me laugh so hard! I have never laughed like this before!" He let go of his control of floating and started to go up to the ceiling, still laughing.

He gripped the ceiling like a cat, trying to stop laughing, and say something to me. "Such fun I have with you!" He comes back down.

"I would just take it from you by sticking my hand into your heart. I can't kill you unless I wanted to." He rolls his eyes. "It is actually a very simple and clean process." He sits down on the ground. I followed and sat down across from him.

He giggled just a for another second, then thought. "I've never done something like this…" He admits as he looks off into space with a grin.

"What? Helped a mental patient escape from an asylum and then NOT take something from her that helps you?" I guess.

"No, I have never sat and talked with someone before. Infact, I never really had friends. I mean, my sibling… When we were little, we got along… Until we got older and NiGHTS became more and more independent and…" He looks down.

"I like you a lot…" He looks up at me with a cold expression. "We can talk and talk for so long and you don't get bored or annoyed and you find my topics very interesting and share a liking with them as I do…"

He went silent to think of what to say next. He then smiles at me. "Come with me."

"What? Can't we rest for a little while longer?" I complain and lay on my back.

"No I mean… Will you come to my world?" He gets a little excited.

I sit back up. "Your home?" I ask.

He nods. "We can be together in a better world." He tilts his head with a grin.

"Reala… I do want to still be with you… I admit it, I don't want you to leave… But I can't just leave this world right away! I want to see this whole world and see what is happening and what I could do in it!"

His happiness quickly vanished. "I can't stay much longer…" He looks away.

"Could I see the world and you come back for me?" I ask with a hopeful grin.

He gave a long sigh. "Turn around." He demands in a calm voice.

"Why?" I ask. But then quickly do so, not wanting to anger him.

After a minute he told me I could look back. He was adjusting his boot and then held out a chain with something on it. I took it and examined it to be a tiny gold chain with a red crystal in the form of a teardrop hanging off it.

"What is this?" I ask.

"You wear this and keep with you." He points.

"What is this?" I ask again.

"Whenever you need me or… You are afraid or in trouble, just hold this to your chest and wish for something. I can't give you everything you wish for, but I can try my best to get close enough. But only for emergencies." He explains.

He then gets up as I examine the chain. He looked out the open window to see night was setting into place and no one was out there still.

"I will be back. I am going to look for something." He gets onto his feet and walks out the door, closing it behind him.

I played with it for a while and found out that I can change the size and length of the chain. I changed it to a necklace and put it on, having the two loose ends connect like magnets behind my neck.

There were all these strange noises outside. They were long and high pitched, some were lower and others seemed to buzz by every now and then. When I saw a small shadow and somthing run across the window, I crawled back into the corner and went on waiting for Reala.

He then came back with a large white sheet wrapped up in his arms. He put it down by the window and spread it out. He then used his finger nail to cut a shape that matched the windows and put it over the window.

"Wait…" I point and get up from the corner.

"What?" He looks back at me.

"No other windows have white sheets over them… What if someone notices it and knows its strange?" I ask.

He sighs and takes it down. He walked over and grabbed the bag full of supplies and set it under the window. He dusted off an area near the window and invited me to sit.

He then stares at me with those big blue eyes of his for a long time. I looked over at him and he smiles. "What?" I ask.

"Sometimes… I forget you really are smart…"

I look down at my legs and smile, blushing to myself as he kept his eyes on me. "Thanks…" I say awkwardly. I did not plan on saying it the way I had, but that was the only way I could voice that single word.

We sat next to each other for a moment in sweet silence until he took the sheet and threw it over me. I took off my jacket and leaned my head against the wall. After a long hour of silence, Reala fell asleep next to me. He was sitting to my right, near the corner and I was under the window.

Reala shifted a few times and then backed into the corner and curled up. I moved a few inches over so I was closer to him and gave him some of the sheet and he accepted it right away. I was going to try and find a way to sleep, but it seemed I already did when I accidentally leaned on Reala's shoulder.

I didn't want to move, so I decided that is where I was resting my head before I closed my eyes. Reala put an arm around me in his sleep, which I thought was strange. The fact that he was sleeping. Does he have a world of dreams he goes to? Or maybe its just meditating, so he sees nothing and he is regaining his energy.

I looked into the sky and saw the brightest star I had ever seen. I wonder if Reala's home is one of those stars. I wonder if there are worlds on those stars… I wonder if I should just go with Reala. And that was all I could think about as I fell asleep.

And this time... I remember my dream. I remember as if I was actual awake and there... I was in darkness. But I was floating around as if I was under water. Then I heard a boom. The darkness slowly faded and it turned more into a dark blue with stars. I still had my eyes closed, but could hear everything.

"What are you still doing there?! I demand that you come back right now!" A voice boomed and echoed throughout the darkness.

"Master, please forgive me! But I cannot do this... You see..." I hear Reala in the distance. His voice was much smaller compared to the other one.

"What do you mean?" The first voice asks slowly, trying to keep their patients it seemed.

"Well... I made a deal with this girl and I have not completed the task yet." Reala tries to sound steady, but he sounded so helpless.

"You... YOU WHAT?!" The voice made the world shake. "How DARE you? Make deals with humans! You disgrace! Why would you... I trained you better than this!"

"Yes master. You did master." Reala surrenders without a fight.

"Then WHY are you acting this way?! What? Do you have FEELINGS for this human? You cannot feel! You were created not to! What is this?" The voice sounds confused and enraged now.

"I... She... I don't master. Once I help her, I will leave and never come back...". Reala takes deep breaths

"No... You must prove to me that you do not feel anything. I order you kill this girl before you leave!"

I could hear Reala's voice shake with fear as he said, "Master... She has feelings for me... Maybe if I let her live and never see her again, it will hurt much longer and she will have to live with it..."

"Hmm... Fine. But do not fail me Reala. Come back soon... I give you a few more earth days..."

"Reala?" I mutter and open my eyes in a daze.

"Finish this task quickly." I hear the last of that first voice.

I then feel his hands on my lower arms as he lightly shakes me. I couldn't see him, but I knew he was there... "Reala... I am having a bad dream... Stop it Reala, I know its you..." I mutter on.

He then wraps his arms around me tightly. "As long as I am here... I promise, you have nothing to fear..." He whispered in my ear.

That's when I woke up to see Reala still asleep. Those words rang in my head. And I could easily replay everything I herd and everything I felt. It really scared me. I hardly can remember a time when I could even remember what my dream was totally about.

But the only dreams we must see are the ones that our mind is trying to tell us something. And if it was important, we remember that dream after we wake up. And if not, its like a faded memory. And like those old memories, we only see in our heads the images that made that memory worth remembering.

I then gave him the rest of the sheet and got up. The sun had just risen, or maybe it was already afternoon… I do not really know how this all works exactly. Because to me, it could be either. But I don't think I slept for 20 hours… After looking out the window I look back at Reala.

Still sleeping… I replay my dream again and realized something. My soft expression turned into a nasty one. "Well…" I whisper under my breath.

"If you are just going to leave me, I'll save you the breath of having to wait any longer…" I grabbed the bag from under the window and threw one strap over my left shoulder.

"I knew you were not going to stay with me… No matter how much I dreamed of it…" I laugh to myself. "But apparently, you have better things and I am going to have to get over you!" I walk for the door.

"Its fine though…" I look back as I was closing the door. "At least I will have you in my dreams…" I smile and close the door silently.

I hate this feeling. Walking down this lonely street so quietly. It was like the old days… Just sitting in bed alone… No one to talk to. I almost forgot what that was like. Reala does not like that silence in that room, so he always tried to break it.

Stop thinking about REALA! He is not your friend and he is NOT coming back! But even as I left the city and followed a dirt path through the hills on the open green landscape, I could not forget nor think bad things about him. Because the truth was, he was my friend and he is not coming back.

And as much as I did not want to believe that, it was true. I am not sure why I thought Reala really liked me… If anything, I was the one thing he wanted to get away from most. I would be that stupid task that he had to finish and then throw away soon enough. The once angry part of me has turned into sorrow and was filled with a strange grief and a gap that was nothing but disappointment. But there was still a small part that really wanted to believe that there was good in him and that he really does like me!

But it was a small fragment that did not help much. But after focusing on that, the thought started to grown and overtake me. But it died a little when I realized I was alone. I look back over my shoulder. Still alone. If Reala really cares, he will come for me... But what if he can't find me, but he does try and look?! I wanted to go back…

But… What if I go back and he does not want to see me?! Just make a choice already! I stopped and thought for a moment. But, decided to keep walking in the direction I was already going. Even if he cannot find me, I have the chain he gave me and I can call for him if I need him. But for now, I have to keep my head up and move forward, with or without him. Because one day, I will forget him. Not that I want to… But one day… I will wake up and not even think about Reala. Because by then… I will be someone else.

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P.S. This is not the end! When I finished writing this, I felt like I had ended it, but this is not where I put down the pen! You must know what happens next! But... I'm still working on that sadly... But just so you know, don't freak if you felt like it was the end. I still have at least a really long chapter to write or two more medium sized ones to really finish this. And even then, I might start another story after this one to keep this love I have going. But that's if you guys liked this as much as I have!

Update: Sorry if you noticed I kept updating this chapter. I'll have you know I was re-reading so I know how I'm starting the next chapter, but I saw some mistakes that really bothered me.


	5. Chapter 5

**_How do I explain myself in a tiny amount of words so you can get reading? School. That is all I can say to why I am horrible at keeping up with this kind of stuff. But I'm going to start making more time for my stories and my fellow nerds (Which is you) so then everyone will be happy! I'm surprised if your still reading/waiting for me. But I thank you very much. I know in the last chapter I said one or two more chapters and then I end this, but I scratch that. I'm extending it to make it longer. I like where this is going and how much you guys like it. But for now, cause I know you would like to read the actual story, please enjoy fellow nerds~! :3_**

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Another few hours passed until he was able to awaken and sit up from the corner. He adjusted the blanket and leaned his head on the wall and closed his eyes, thinking that there was still someone with him and maybe she was still asleep, if she was there.

"You know…" He mutters aloud, the room being filled with his voice. "I had met with my master last night… I was going to try and convince him to bring you with me, but… I could not even mention you without him getting so upset… I thought maybe I could bring you back and say you were a slave for me… It could have worked if he… If he would listen!"

He takes a deep breath, and moves on. "But… Getting to know you was something very different for me. I don't have much interactions with humans other than when I take their Ideya… I don't have much interaction with anyone really… And because of that and not totally hating you, I'm debating on staying. If I go, I'm not sure I can come back… And… If I see you again in Nightopia, you won't know me… The only memories of me that you have are the ones we are making now. But I have to wonder… Do you think its worth it? Disobeying my master? Do you think you are worth it?"

He then turns around to find that he was alone, talking to himself. A little saddened that he made that speech alone, he sat back against the wall and looked around. Then he realizes… Why is he alone!? He jumps up, dropping the sheet and saw that the bag was gone. He peers his head out the window quickly, to see no sign of anyone.

He looks around the floor to see that she has even taken the chain he gave her. So if she gets into trouble without him, she can at least still contact him somehow. But for now, he has to go look for her. Its a good thing he was able to 'recharge' because hes going to have to use that invisible power he just learned, to fly far from the city where no one is. But as he was about to activate it, he realizes something.

Within his vest, he pulled out a piece of parchment with a strange language scribbled on it. There was another new power he had learned, but has never tried before… And now would be a good time to do it. The instructions were simple to follow, but no nightmaren had ever done this before. It was something Master Wizemen was working on and was making Reala the guinea pig for it.

_Is she really worth it? _He thought to himself as he gripped the paper firmly.

* * *

This is really wind? The cold vents in that white room had a breeze going and stray hairs would fly back over my shoulders, but this is so different. My freezing body absorbs all the sun as it can, and the wind picks up and runs through my hair, trying to carry it with it. It feels amazing when the breeze hits my face. Its so soothing and relaxing, I don't know what to do when it comes. The first time it came, I panicked, very unsure about it, but now… I want even more of it.

Another few hours had past since I left the city and it was well into the afternoon as I walk the silent path before me. I had been thinking less of Reala, and more of the beauty around me. Its so amazing… Fields filled with… Grass… I'm sure thats its name. It was very, very tall compared to some patches I saw back in the city. And when the breeze would pick up, everything blew against it's force, creating a beautiful sight over the landscape.

The air is so clean here. I take deep breaths just to smell the sweet scent around me. And the sky is so blue here… I did not know the sky was blue. I thought the sky was grey. From the looks of it during the day while I was still in the city, it was grey. And those white clouds look so fluffy from all the way down here. I wonder what it would be like to touch them... I wonder if anyone has ever touched them.

There were distance trees along the hills and few colors aside from the dark and light shades of green I saw. There were small hints of other strange colors that really suited the green in the distance. I was tempted to go off and look up close, but following the dirt road was my best bet for now. Speaking of which, when I look down at the dirt, I see many other prints that have walked this path many times before. There were human like prints in different sizes but also… Something else very round shaped. And some were just half rings… That's strange.

I thought maybe I'd come upon some other city or somewhere with people. Try and do something and learn something and then move on to the next place. That sounds so exciting! Traveling and seeing so much, learning so much…

I stopped paying attention to where I was going, just following the dirt road when I looked closer into the distance to see very tall things standing up high. As I got closer into view, they got taller and taller to my small being. I took another deep breath and inhaled a strange, yet sweet scent of the area itself. I look down at my feet and pick up a strange little brown object. It fit my hand, yet was a little strange to hold. It was shaped like an oval and had strange scales sticking outward that were very thick.

I smelt it and realized that the smell was coming from this. I let my arm drop to my side and the let go of the object and looked up again. I looked closer at the brown struckers to see these small small objects hanging from them. The tall brown struckers went up quite a ways until strange green things came out of them at a downwards angle. The grass was shaped a bit differently and was not as tall as it was before.

The sun was moving downwards as I entered the area that the path led into. It was not yet setting, but it was getting around to doing that. The light casted through and hit things, but also made very dark shadows in areas as well. As I got deeper and deeper in, I compared this to my room as I got a nervous feeling.

_What is wrong with you? This is such a nice place! Remember your old room? Yeah, and then look at this place. There is nothing to feel so strange about!_

Repeating words as such over and over in my head made me feel a lot better. But in the depths of myself, there lingered that strange feeling that would not go away. I kept pushing it down further until I felt the chain around my neck and ran my fingertips along the red crystal. _I'm okay._

As I was feeling much better at that moment and kept walking along, there was a rustling noise not to far off. I look back slightly, but turned around, thinking it was the wind. That noise had kept occurring since I left the city and through the grass when there was nothing around me while in the grassland. But this one was a bit different. It might just be a creature that calls this place home, or maybe the wind, as I thought it was.

Walking a few more steps along, another similar sound came from in front of me. It came from a green thing that was low to the ground and had similar looking texture as the green stuff on top of the brown struckers, but grew by itself on the ground. My heart stopped as a small, light green creature, about the size of my finger, leaped out towards my face, making me stumble back well screaming.

It landed by my feet and all was silent as not a single thing around us moved. It then leaped back up in place and hit the ground again. I started scurrying away on my back as it leaped at me again. I then rolled to the right, out of its path. It kept going straight and was soon out of view.

In a panic, I get up, adjusted my back, and quickly keep going down the path. I looked down, my face feeling hot from such an overreaction to such a small creature that looked as if it could do no harm.

Then, I bumped into something, for I was still looking at my feet. I look up, thinking it was one of those brown struckers, but instead, it was a large man. He was like one of those towers back in the city. So tall and wide compared to me. He had these… These cold eyes that would not stop staring directly down at me. They were so cold and grey, yet so powerful all at once, piercing through me. He reminded me of the needles they would give me… He did not say a word as I took a step back, hoping to not be too close to him or that he might be angry.

But he was smiling… He was smiling at me. It was a smirk at first, but the longer time passed, the wider it got. There was something very unsettling about this man, and I could feel it, just by standing near him. I had not talked to a human before. Never, not even back in that room, I never talked to the nurses, I only talked to Reala. _What do I say? Do I say anything? Did I run into him? If I did, should I point it out and apologize? _

It was still silent between us. "Oh, dear girl, don't you know that it is very rude to run into someone and not even say sorry?" His deep voice shock within my head.

"S-s-sor-sorry!" I speak up, with a tinny voice. Was this really my voice? So small and silent, like a mouse. Looking back, Reala's voice was not this deep, and I was even my voice was lighter and smaller than the nurses. I must look weak from all over at this point.

"Speak up now!" He keeps his smile, sounding so nice and calm.

"S-sorry!" I say a bit louder, but it was just the same.

"Hahaha!" He laughed, and it made the ground shake under my feet it felt like. "It seems that is the best you can do… But, when you run into me next time, I expect to hear you right away!"

I was not sure how to react to that or if I should say something.

"So…" He looks at my appearance. "Where are you off to?"

"I…" Was all I could find to say.

"You what? A girl of a few words I see. You must be coming from Warthford." He points in the direction I had come.

"Y-yeah! Warthford! I'm just starting… my… travels…" I say awkwardly, darting my eyes around to look anywhere but his smiling face.

"Travels? You're just in luck, young lady! I happen to be a merchant going in YOUR direction!"

"I- I don't have any money…"

"Hm…" He stares at me and his smile fades. But after a moment of thinking, he smiled again. "How about I make you a deal instead?"

"Um…"

"You be my company on my way to the next town, and I will give you something for free!"

"Why do you need me?" I take another small step back.

"... Why not? The more the merrier!" He claps his large hands together.

"I'm fine, thank you… Besides… How do you know we are going the same way? You are facing the way I came and I ran into your front side. And I never said where I was going…" I point out.

As I finished that sentence, he charged at me, and held back from running with his large, thick arms. He then used one hand to cover my mouth before I could start screaming and the other to hold me. I looked around in a panic, but only to see two other men come out of hiding from those green things on the ground. They were both smaller than the man that held me, but one was very strong looking and the other was rather skinny.

"God, it took you long enough!" One complains as he walks up to us and the other skinny man goes through my bag that I had dropped when about to run.

"Sorry Brayton…" The one holding me says.

"You idiot! Why would you say my name in front of her?!" Brayton, the one who looked in charge, got really upset.

"Does it matter? I mean, are we gonna let her go?" The one going through my bag asks.

"Well, when you put it like that… Maybe we can just keep her…" Brayton puts a hand on my head and looked into my eyes as I slowly stopped my struggles. He had the brightest, light teal blue eyes I had ever seen. I did not even know that was a possible eye color. His dark black hair fell around his eyes, making him look mysterious. He was rather handsome aside from the situation. It was mainly his eyes that I could not stop staring back into.

They were almost as pretty as Reala's eyes… Reala! I looked away from his gaze, breaking free of the trance I was in, and tried to get loose again. As long as I have the necklace, I can try and call for him!

"Derrick, could you please hold her still!" Brayton yells at the man who was holding me.

"Sorry…" He says, not to me, but to Brayton and tightened his already strong grip that squeezed the life out of me.

"You almost done there, Madison?" Brayton looks at the man going through my bag.

"Yeah, she ain't got nothing good on her… Or at least in this bag." He tossed it aside as he got up to his feet. My papers that I had found in my file flew out as well.

"Well boys, look what we have!" Brayton grins and folds his arms over his chest with a satisfied look.

"What will we do with her?" Madison asked. He was even skinnier than I had imagined. The only thing about him was his bright orange hair that fell to his shoulders. I wish I had hair like that…

"Well, we have a few options…" Brayton looks at me from different angles. "We could have our way with her, then throw her in the lake, tied down… We could keep her in chains as our slave… Or, we can keep her for a bit to do all those things, and then sell her on the Underground market for a lot of money…"

"Hm…" Madison and Brayton both thought about it for a moment with big smirks.

"LETS KEEP HER!" Derrick lifts me off the ground and into the air.

"You idiot, we can't just… Keep her, can we?" Madison turns to Brayton.

"We could for a bit, but not forever… Let's just take her with anyways, and when we decided what we want to do, we can keep her or toss her. Both are not that hard…" Brayton smiles as he extended his fingers to feel my face.

Then I bit Derricks hand, making him jump in pain, taking his hand off my mouth and then I was able to bite Braytons hand as well.

"Oh, a rambunctious one… I like her already." Madison smiles, his eyes closed as he enjoyed the pain of the other two.

"Well, lets take her back to camp…" Brayton says, and then tear a piece of the bottom of his shirt off and and ties it around my mouth. "She can stay in my tent tonight." He lightly slapped his hand against the side of my face playfully.

They walked off the path and into an open area where three things were placed around. Those must be these… Tents they are talking about. The one thing I hate about going into the world for the first time is that I am so uneducated about everything. I still don't know what these tall brown things are either!

Derrick set me down on the ground and Madison right away caught me in his arms and tied my hands together behind my back. As he was done tieing, he still held me close to his body. I glance over my shoulder at his grin.

"We could just stay like this for a while…"

_Or not!_ Was all I could think. But I sighed, giving up my fight and sat quietly. But after a while of just sitting in my place, I did not like it anymore. I thought that maybe if I could just be good and not fight, that maybe I could get off easy. But I don't like that, I don't like it at all.

I refuse to sit here and be the victim of these men! I will not be used and I will NOT let them have their way with me at all! Everything was so calm now. The good thing about sitting still and acting good was that they are letting down their guard.

"Hm…" Madison peered over my shoulder and down at my body. "No one else is around and… I know Brayton wants you first but…" He then puts his hands on my shoulders and I started screaming on the inside. Can I wish with the necklace without using my hands to hold it to my chest? I mean… It is on my chest, so can't I just wish?!

So I closed my eyes tightly as he started to unbutton the top of my jacket and I focused so hard. I only thought about Reala and how much I wish I was free from these men right now. I wished I could get to a safe place.

_I wish… I wish… I wish…_

* * *

**_Sorry to make you read this, but I really want to thank you for not giving up on me even though I'm horrible at updates. I want to make my chapters at least 3,000 words so you guys can enjoy SOMETHING! I like reading my long fics after a long day, so I hope I can do the same for you! I'm hoping to finish this by the end of the school year (Sometime in June) and starting on another NiGHTS story. And I am making more room for writing this year too, so, you will see more from me hopefully! And also, I was looking back, and I think I misspelled some NiGHTS terms..._**

**_Please fav, follow, and or leave reviews! I eat that stuff up every time I see I got a fav or follow in my emails. Your reviews don't have to be detailed, just say short, small stuff. It still counts and its really nice! _**

**_Also, in the reviews (OMG when will this end?!) please tell me, if you were thinking this, if you thought this was gonna turn into a romance. Lets be honest, you kinda thought that, didn't you? I did for a while and I don't really know if its a good idea. Is it? I don't know, why don't you tell me in the reviews? :3 (God, I need to stop fishing for reviews. The more I complain, the less I get. But who can blame a girl for trying?)_**


	6. Chapter 6

_**That was quick. I am really proud of myself for getting the next chapter done so quickly. I hope you are proud toooo! So, I hope you are reading this cause I wanted to thank you again for getting this far without getting sick of me! I would also like to warn you I got a little deep on this one. I was reading it aloud to myself and I go, "I wrote this?" I love how I wrote the first part, I put a lot of emotion into it and I hope you guys like it! **_

_***Also, it got a little descriptive after the second line insert thing after this one under the bold text. Nothing sexual, but if your not used to blood, I would say to just skip over it until you see that its not all dark and deep anymore. I'll just put a little note down there. I'm just not sure how you guys handle/like that stuff, so, just in case, I don't want to creep anyone out or anything. Also, there is a little more swearing then you are used to, but its part of the character and its in the rating, so just ignore it if you like. So please don't say I did not warn you! For the rest of you, **_

_**Please enjoy!  
**_

* * *

There are no words to describe the feelings I felt that night. No way to describe how _scared_ I was. No words to describe how… How _alone_ I was. No words to describe how _cold_ I feel. The only way to somehow convey my feelings is by the sounds I had made. I could only scream and cry in nothing but the bitter pain and the sharp cold of what those monsters did. And the words 'pain' and 'monsters' cannot even begin to describe it all.

And what I don't understand is when I needed him most… When I cried out his name, for his help, my words could not reach him. My wishes and hopes that were once flickering with a small light have gone out. The warm feeling within me was ripped out that night. And now I sit, wondering, is it possible to get it back?

I don't even understand what it was that they did to me or how it broke me within. I don't understand… How do you do such things to person who never did anything to you? How do you live with that? How can you hurt someone like that? And on top of it, you do it to someone who does not understand… It hurt _so, so bad_. I cannot unsee or unfeel it. I can only replay it. _What can I do now? _

I can't run, it hurts. I can barely walk… I thought I felt nothing but anguish in that facility they held me in but… Now I understand _WHY_ I was held there… The most pure of all people are the most vulnerable to the world. They knew I was ready to step out into the world but, they kept me because I could not handle it. I was so soft and fragile. I couldn't do it, let alone, do it by myself.

Then there's him. I was a fool for thinking that I'd be better off without him. I should have trusted him… I should have asked him "Why?". But no… I was a fool to think he would do that to me. I deserved to not have him save me. For leaving him, he abandoned me. What was I thinking? Truly… _What was I thinking?_

If I could not even count on him to save me, how can I save myself? How can I even put myself together, the pieces they broke and left behind? How can I go back, pick them up, and put them back together and expect them to stay together? I can't even think properly, how can I escape and make it on my own? Who would REALLY help me?

If I just walked into a public place, bleeding and bruised, beaten to nothing but the sad, pathetic girl I am, who would step forward and help me? Who can I trust? I don't expect much now. I am surprised they even feed me. They might as well drop me in the dirt and leave me for wild creatures to come and eat what is left of this limp being.

I don't know what to do… I don't know what to say… I don't even know who I am… There is one side of me that is trying to slowly drag along, trying to somehow get back up, and somehow find a way to get back to a state that is close to where it was before. The other half of me is screaming to get out. Its so confusing because, I feel like I have no control over anything anymore.

I can only sit and wait for one side to take over, if one ever does, and for me to do the action it commands. Its as if something else has kicked me out and is taking over. Kind of like the time Reala helped me escape and he was in my body… When I thought that, my head stopped hurting and it was all silent. _Is Reala really in my body? Is he really with me? Is he trying to hide and make sure that they don't get suspicious so, he did not tell me?_

Thinking this, I closed my eyes and kept replaying these gentle whispers of questions in my head while the two half's of me went back to fighting. The whispering voices put my tired body and mind to rest, making me a bit sleepy. I was inside the large, wooden wagon that was carried on by two horses at a steady pace along the path. The whole thing was covered with a large white tarp and it was very dark inside. I could tell when the wheels would go over large rocks or into small ditches, it rocked a bit violently from time to time. But it is okay, because I am just an object here.

I leaned my head against the strong white material and peered out the tarp that dangled to cover the openings. There was a small tear in the fabric, so I could see out. It was afternoon, and the setting sun was so beautiful… This is my first official sunset…

I wish Reala could sit next to me and watch this with me. I think for a cold, angry guy, he would enjoy nice, soothing things like this. I then, take a deep breath. And in that instant, things felt better.

Yes, of course the situation itself it terrible, but, just for a moment, a second to breath. A silent, quiet moment… I was so used to silence in my room, I never thought anything of it. But I have never valued it more in my entire life. And this view… What have I been doing? I'm so naive. I was naive to think that I could walk out into the world and just live. So naive to think I was even ready. Naive to… I just don't understand and I am so confused…

"Did you feed that cat?" One of them asks the other in a casual tone.

"Yeah, its doing okay last time I looked. And when I mean by fine, I mean _alive_." The other responds. And then mutters under their breath, "Well… At the least, its alive…"

"What cat? What's alive?" I could tell that was Derrick. "YOU MEAN THE PRETTY GIRL WE HAVE?!" He says with an excited tone very loudly.

"SHH!" They both get angry and I could hear them both hit him. "What is your damn problem? What if someone is watching us and hears your stupid ass?" Brayton loudly whispers.

Then all fell silent once again. Then Madison speaks up, "Maybe we should set up for the night? I'd hate to look for a place in the dark…" He grumbles.

"Fine…" Brayton agrees after a moment of thought.

"What will we do with the cat?" Madison asks.

"Well, I'm not trusting you all alone with it like last night. We can keep her in the wagon, but tie it up even more and tie her down a bit more. The cat will do just fine."

After a few minutes, the wagon came to a complete stop. Then, the tarp was ripped off and the figure with bright, fiery orange hair smirks at me. "Aw, poor little kitty cat looks so out of it…" He teased me.

I did not say anything as he grabbed a few supplies and walked away. I watched them set up camp with the golden light of the setting sun hitting the ground, grass, and the top green part of those tall brown structures.

Everything was simmering golden. I, the only thing the gold did not touch, sat in the dark shade of the wagon, still awaiting for them to tie me down. Then, Derrick came over with more hemp rope and tied me more securely. Then, he tied the tarp back up and it was more secure than before.

Time goes by so slow. Every minute, every second, seems like forever. I had no care to hear them talk, even if it could help me to know, I just couldn't. But I guess I was really just thinking about other things. I don't understand how my own personal thoughts trump such a situation, but I couldn't help it.

The chain Reala gave me was still around my neck. I forget what color the gem or crystal or whatever stone it is was. Was it red? Or maybe white? No, blue, it was blue…? I think it was red… Or maybe black… I try looking down, but head hurt to much to even hold up. It felt like my brain was just slamming into the sides of my head. I've never felt anything like this before and it was very painful.

I had heard Brayton say earlier to Derrick and Madison, who were arguing, "Will you two shut up?! You're giving me a headache! Can't you two be more like that damn cat?! Christ!"

I've never experienced something quite like this before. My head might have hurt before, but this was extremely painful, nothing compared to the other times. I wonder if there is a medicine for this kind of stuff.

Even when I walked down the road in the city before, I am still unfamiliar with normal people and habits. I wonder what this world is like actually… Humans… Thats what Reala said and he made it sound like that was what was mainly walking this world. But I do wonder if there is some other type of people out there. Not just humans, which seem to range from nice people, like that nurse, and bad people, like these men. But… It seems a bit strange… I can't explain that empty feeling there is to that statement.

I started to doze off after that thought, trying to keep my eyes open, but my mind was slowly starting to shut down and my vision was going black.

They were still wide awake though. They were sitting around the fire, each doing their own thing. Brayton was craving something with a small knife. He wasn't really trying to create anything, but it was turning into a very sharp stick. Just shaving and peeling the bark off the small stick in his hand.

Madison was fiddling with an old harmonica in his hands. The medal that was once a shining silver was starting to rust and there was a huge crack over the top, making it hard to play. Not that he ever really knew how to play it, but it kind of wanted to learn. So, when he was younger, he saved up money and bought it. Then Derrick got his hands on it, causing the crack, which he finds out later that it is very experience to repair. He didn't really want to get rid of it, so he just kept it in his bag and thought that maybe one day, he could find something useful with it.

And Derrick was drawing in the dirt with a stick, trying to create different figures, but have failed so far. He tried to draw a cat, but he was not sure how to make the legs, so he just drew an uneven cat head with pointy ears a few times. He always wanted a cat, but Madison and Brayton never let him have one because it was another mouth to feed and they said he wouldn't take care of it anyways. Which was true, but he didn't think it was true and he refused to believe them.

All three of them were brothers, and were fugitives. Brayton was a soldier in combat until he skipped out after a few months of being drafted. Madison was always wherever the girls were, and has caused a lot of trouble well around them. And Derrick always got into messes he couldn't fix and relied on Brayton and sometimes Madison to get him out.

Derrick glanced out into the woods as he got bored of drawing cats after he added whiskers to them. As he scanned the line of trees, he noticed a strange glow. They looked like eyes of a monster from the scary stories and childrens' books. A bit panicked by the strange sight, he focused a bit better by squinting his eyes to see the eyes blink.

"Ah… Ma-Maddie!" Derrick cries out as he keeps his eyes on the eyes.

"How many goddamn times do I have to tell you, don't call me that!?"

"Look!" He loudly whispers and points in the direction of the strange eyes.

"I'm not playing games with you. Leave. Me. Alone," Madison says, as if giving an order.

"Br-Brayton! Don't you see them eyes?!" He kicks Braytons foot lightly with his own, trying not to break contact with the eyes.

"Don't kick me!" He kicks him back.

"But the eyes!" Derrick then turns his head to look at Brayton who looked just as annoyed as Madison.

"WHAT EYES?!" They both yell.

"Over… There?" He turns to point, but the glow of the eyes were gone.

They were all silent as Derrick searched for the eyes he had calmed were over in the dark shadows of the woods.

"What in the hell is wrong with you?" Brayton turns his attention away and to the fire.

"Dumb bastard…" Madison mutters under his breath and he goes back to feeling the rusted parts of the harmonica.

Derrick sat back down, but still glanced around quickly every few seconds as if he had just seen a spider and could no longer find it. As they did ignore their brother, they also ignored what was approaching their camp…

* * *

_***Here is where I warned you about. If this does not apply to you, please ignore this note. I think you will be fine and I might be over reacting but I'd hate for someone a bit younger to be uncomfortable with these descriptions or for someone to try and delete my story even though I warned you. just scroll down until you see another (*).**_

I don't remember much of what happened. I opened my eyes, realizing I was once again aware of things. The sun was still setting, but had just about disappeared. I was on the ground, I could feel that grass under me. It was pricking me a bit, and the ache in my body was even worse in this position. The rope I was tied with was torn apart and laid around me and the wagon I was inside of, was now sitting on the opposite side of the open area and was tipped over, and had a strange red and orange like light glowing around it. The glow seemed to be destroying the wood and white sheet because it was slowly turning black and then would disappear.

I tried to look around more, but there was nothing to look at. Everything that they had neatly set up was all over the place or was completely destroyed. Speaking of _them_, where are they? I tilted my head downwards a bit to see Derrick. He was laying on his back, but he was not moving.

Then I saw a large, metal thing sticking up from his body. It was a bit larger than that metal rod I had when I was escaping. It was strange that it was standing ontop of him so perfectly… His hand is covered in red. Then I see all the red spilling out from his body.

Why isn't he moving?

Then a hear a voice not to far from behind me. I was able to slowly turn myself over to see more of that orange, red glow that was giving light to sky and smelt so strange… I like the smell, but the glow seems much more than asked for.

Then I saw Madison. He was on his knees, his back to me. He was muttering strange, unknown words to himself and seemed to be searching for something. After giving up it seemed, he turns his head to face me slowly. The red blood was dripping from his lips and down his chin and onto his white shirt.

Then, he turns his body a bit more and then I see what he was looking for… His torso was covered in nothing but thick blood and seemed to be… Missing… Its like part of his body fell out. He was still in one whole piece… but there was something in his hands… They were pink like and covered in blood as well. He was holding them in his hands. They were connected to that part of him that seemed to be missing… Or maybe cut off.

Then, his stare seemed to be cut short. It was like he was looking right through me. He then, falls over and hits the ground, still holding those things.

Why has he stopped moving?

_*** Okay, bloody/ deep dark part is over ;)**_

Then I heard a large sound that echoed throughout the area. I looked towards it to see a brown structure was broken at the bottom and was now falling over. The sound was unbearably loud. I closed my eyes tight right before it hit the ground and kept them shut until it was on the ground.

That's when I saw Brayton. There was some man standing there, holding Brayton by his throat, his feet were kicking and struggling as he was lifted high off the ground.

At first, I thought that figure that was holding Brayton up was Reala. But… He was human. Hopefully he will spare me and is just doing this to them… But… I wouldn't mind if he had done something to me like he had to Derrick or Madison.

He was talking to Brayton, but I could not hear what he was saying. Brayton probably put up more of a fight, which would save him for last. I was trying to see what that man was going to do to him, trying to see what he would do to me, if he did anything at all.

But my head started to pound, an uncontrollable throbbing going through my head and now into my body. My vision was going black again and it was impossible to try and stop my eyes from shutting on me. But, I was not falling asleep again. I was well aware, unlike the last time, and could still hear the things around me. But, I could not open my eyes.

I could feel the time slipping past, and I could hear every second. It was unbearable. But then, I heard something… It sounded like a man's scream… It lasted for a long… long… time. Its imprinted into my mind, it sounded so painful… He sounded like a patient at that place…

I then forced my mind to function and flew open my eyes. This time, I could barely move my head. But when I looked around with my eyes, thick black boots with blood stains were approaching my vision.

I wanted to speak, to ask who was there. I wanted to ask if they would kill me or not. Or if they were to 'sell' me as well. But as they drew near my face, they stopped short and stayed there for a long time. The man knelt down, and he stroked my hair out of my face and put his hand on my cheek. He was wearing gloves… Very soft, warm gloves.

As he took his hand away, I noticed the smeared blood on his glove. I twitched my cheek and could tell he left some on my face. He didn't say another, but he somehow apologizes with his hand. Him acting clam with me made me a bit more relaxed somehow.

He then walks around me and picks me up. It was so painful, there were no words to describe it. Because of how he had me, I couldn't get a good look at his face. But as I look back, the camp got smaller and smaller as we walked farther away.

I'm not sure how long he was walking for, but we got very far from the previous area to a similar one. It was much more enclosed by the brown struckers and more hidden as well. I was trying to get a better look at the area until suddenly, I hit the ground with a thud.

"Ugh…" I try to roll over, but I layed on my stomach in pain.

"S-sorry! I didn't mean to…"

He walked over near a large tree a few steps away and grabbed something. He came back over and wrapped me in a blanket as well as turn me over on my back.

"Perhaps you'd be more comfortable sitting up?" He asks and he props my body up against the tree.

_Wow, that didn't do ANYTHING! _Was all I could think as I look around. Good, my mind is somewhat putting itself in a calmer state, I can at least be a bit sarcastic... It seems it was his camp, yet, there was not much here to even call it a camp.

"Yeah, I know what you're thinking… This camp does lack a lot… Okay, it sucks, but I promise you, I'll make it better!"

Why does he sound so excited and cheerful? Who is this guy? He had his back to me. I couldn't even judge his skin color, he was covered from his neck to his feet. Compared to the other people I saw in the city, he was dressed more elegantly. Not like he was someone more important then those people if you compared them, but it was remarkably different.

I could only see his back side because his back was to me. He had on clean white pants, tall dark, dark brown boots, and a long dark blue coat. He also had black hair. Really long black hair too. All the men in the city had their hair cut short and the men who wore matching green uniforms had no hair… He was also kind of tall. About the height that all the men were back in the city too…

I'm not to sure if I should be scared or comforted right now… To me at the moment, all men look like unpleasant monsters. I wonder what the woman are like? Maybe they get the same treatment as I. Or maybe they are worse… Going back to the room did not seem like an option. I kept thinking that, maybe I could go back… But…

"I'm going to go get fire wood. You know you should never rip branches off of the trees. They are living and breathing too." He glanced back at me with a smirk. He turned his head back, so I still couldn't see him. But, I did notice that his skin is rather pale.

"Tr-ees?" I speak up lightly. It really hurt to speak, it was all scratchy and dry and rough…

He walked off to the left, out of view and next thing I know, he is standing right next to me, petting my head gently. "Ow…" I mumble.

"That's adorable. You don't know what a tree is? Even as we are in the middle of the woods…? Have you ever heard of water?" He chuckles lightly.

I tried to glare at him, but it was hard to move my head.

"Trying to glare? Hahaha! You shouldn't move too much, you are seriously bruised up. And there happens to be a big purple one on your neck!" He pats down on my head again with another chuckle.

"See these big brown things!" He points with his white glove. There was still some stained blood on it… I nod the slightest bit.

"Those are trees. And when there is a large area that is covered in trees, its called a forest, or woods. The wood is the brown part of the tree and the green parts are called leaves. They fall off during a certain season, or time of the year." He explains.

"The trees are actually living things. People don't seem to understand that. But it would be rude to break branches off of it. You should always pick up the ones on the ground. Like this one." He picks up a little brown stick off the ground.

"I promise I will stay within your view." He gave me one final pat, set the branch down on my lap and walked off.

He came back about a minute later with a large sum of wood piled up in his arms. "Its actually pretty late. The sun set not to long ago. Good thing I was able to get you and the firewood in time before it actually got dark.

I was able to glance up to see the sky was a little darker then it was during the day. Clouds float by but that was it. It was getting dark and the gold that had touched the tops of the brown structure- I mean, the trees, is now gone. The clouds are so relaxing… I think I could sit here for a long time and look at them. They are just so mysterious and pretty…

I had gotten lost in the clouds for a while because when I looked back forward, the sticks were turning black and fading as that glow wrapped around them. I tried to back away, not sure about it, but I was already up against the tree.

"Relax! The fire can't reach you from that distance! There isn't even any wind!"

"Fire…" I repeat.

"Oh, fire? Its… It a warm glow we use for heat and cooking and light. See?" He got on his knees next to me and got his hands close. I extended my hand to feel the heat press against my skin in strange manner.

"Yeah…" I could hear him smile as he watched me. But as he was watching me, he didn't notice my hand approaching the light.

"Wait!" He grabbed my wrist just in time. "You could get hurt! You don't want to touch fire, it burns your skin!"

I pull my hand away from his wrist and finally get a good look at the man who was concerned about me. And all I saw was big, deep blue eyes...

* * *

**_Aw crap! More cliffhangers! Sorry, I just love cliffs! So, did you like it? Did you not like? Tell me in the reviews! Did you guys mind the dark stuff or did it feel over dramatic or under-dramatic? Was that blood part to much or not enough? Also, most important thing I want to know... Did you guys feel for her? What I mean is, did you guys see how innocent she really was? Like how she didn't know what a tree was XD I love that I put that in there as a running joke. And for your info, those 'brown structures' she refers to are trees. She just didn't know the name. Or like how she didn't really understand how death worked? For this, I was really trying to show that she really was not prepared for the world and how she really is not all that smart as she thinks and that she did not understand and how her mind could not process that. Are you guys getting what I'm saying? _**

**_P.S. (Spoilers!) If you miss Reala like, "Where did he gooo?!" I promise you, he is not gone or dead or anything. He will be back in chapter 7! _**

**_(No more spoilers!) I really hope you guys have enjoyed this and I love all of your support and how sweet you guys have been! It means a lot to me, it really does. I just want to thank you for taking the time to read my work and then taking the time to read this bold print! It is important, so if you have not been reading it, I'd say you should at least read the bold print at the top before starting to read. I can't wait to see what you guys think! (Yes, I am fishing for reviews, I admit it :P )_**


	7. Chapter 7

_**I'm back so soon?! Yeah, I'm surprised too. But, I've been getting good feedback and that usually helps me keep going and want to get the next chapter out to you guys as soon as possible! I felt like the last few chapters (Holy crap, can you believe its chapter 7 already?!) were a bit dark and you guys need a little fluff. And fluff meaning that you guys need some nice stuff that will hopefully make you smile, maybe even laugh a bit. But, at least you won't be all down like the last chapters. Also, guess who is making their appearances in this chapter? You can probably guess, but you won't know until you get reading!**_

* * *

Tears filled my eyes and something in my chest started to beat fast. He was staring back at me and then breaks into a smile. It couldn't be... No, that's impossible! How could he even...?

"Hmm, it seems like you're catching on..." He turns to poke the fire with a long branch.

I tilt my head as I watch him act so casual. "Like I said... I always did forget how smart you actually are..." He grins as he mutters. He then glanced at my even more confused look.

"R... Reala...?" It sounded so strange to call this man by that name, it just didn't fit.

"Patient 13..."

I thought I would throw my arms around him and cry, but I just sat there. _How can I know for sure...? _

I shake my head.

"What? Don't believe me? I thought this might happen. Humans... Are very difficult and complex things, you know. I'll talk about things we talked about in the room where we were alone."

He inhaled before he began to speak. "I have a sibling named NiGHTS that I don't like, I gave you that necklace, I made a deal to take your hope, I taught you how to walk again, and I still got the keep my nice scar you gave me..." He rolls up the left sleeve of his black shirt and pointed to the exact spot of a raised line on his skin where I had infact scratched him.

"And then you left me behind..." He looks down. "I don't know why I'm surprised, honestly, I should have expected this from you." He grins.

"You... Came back?" Tears were now rolling down my bruised cheeks.

His smile faded quickly and was replaced with a grim look. "You called for me, didn't you?..." He then stopped himself from saying anymore.

"I... I killed them..." He admits.

I look down at the ground, waiting for him to move on.

"I..." He stopped again. This time when I looked back at his pale, narrow face, he tried avoiding his eyes from me that were full of tears but he did not allow a single one to fall.

"I heard you scream and crying and... I couldn't help you when you needed me... All I could hear was you in pain and thats when I decided..." He stopped again. "I decided that I HAVE to stay with you longer and protect you... I hope you now see how unprepared you are and what a mistake it was for you to leave alone... I can't leave you out here alone and I can't take you back either. It's okay..." He then looks back at me with a grin, his eyes no longer held tears.

Tears were still falling down my cheeks. "Its okay now... You're safe with me and I won't let anyone ever touch you again."

"Reala…" Was all I could say.

Now I feel bad… He is risking all this for me… Just one girl, no one important… I look over at him again.

"Don't…" I shake my head. "Don't do this, you don't have to…"

"No, I don't have to, I want to." He then got to his feet and dusted off his pants. He took off his long coat and handed it to me. "I'm going to go get some water…" He then walked off.

* * *

It could be heard for miles, nothing but a single scream off in the distance that was approaching fast. The large and unfathomable dream gates were open as always, so he proceed through, still yelling and shouting without a care. He was holding a strange, large glass orb under one invisible arm as he flew in.

He let his feet touch the ground, but as he took another step, he tripped on the old, white brick, dropping the orb. It flew out of his grasp and rolled right for the fountain. He tried to get up to go catch it, but he was luckily saved when a certain purple boot stopped the orb in its tracks right before crashing into the fountain.

"What are you yelling about?" The now angry purple jester glared. "There are no visitors as of the moment and I have this time all to myself! What could you possible want, running in here without my permission?!" He takes his foot off the glass orb.

"Its… an emergency!" The orange jester wheezes from flying in so fast.

"Get up!"

"Okay!" He jumped up to his feet, even though it was hard to tell if he was standing or not without being able to see his body.

"Jackle, this better be really, really important or I swear I…" He stops himself from saying anything more and tries to breath.

"It is! I promise!" Jackle nods with a wide smile.

"Then tell me what Wizemen wants this time!"

"Its about Reala…"

The purple jester paused at hearing those words. _Reala?_ He thought to himself. "... What about Reala? I have not seen him in a long time…" He crossed his arms over his chest.

"Yeah, that's the problem!" He runs over and picks up the orb. "Reala was in some girls nightopia and chasing her and all… When she grabbed onto him in fear of falling off a cliff and she pulled them both down and she woke up, still holding him and bring him into the human world!" He rambles in a panic.

"WHAT?! You can do that?" He instantly forgot about his uncertainty of Jackle and was right away interested.

"Yeah, I thought that too! But its true! He has been stuck in the humans realm for a total of 4 human months! Master is enraged because he cannot do anything about it and Reala lost all contact with us. He needed energy to come back and planned on taking it from that girl. He made a deal with her and the last time he talked to master he was told he was going to have to kill her and we have not heard from him since.

"But…" Jackle continued. "Master forgot that we can always see into the humans world with this." He holds up the orb for them both to have a good view of. At the moment, it was looking at the cosmos itself, which is where their worlds join each other.

"I have not told master because… Well, you should have a look for yourself…" Jackle then taps on the orb, zooming into the universe and to a certain planet. "Now… Where could those two be…?" Jackle paused and then went into the last land he recalled seeing them. He followed the view of the trail into the woods, but was still unsuccessful.

"Can't you just search for them or something?" NiGHTS, the purple jester, suggested.

"Yeah but… She does not have a name, so there is no way of actually being able to find her because she is not supposed to exist." Jackle scratches where his head is.

"What about Reala?" He points.

They stare at each other in silence and then Jackle quickly types in 'Reala'. It takes them a few miles off the trail and into a small spot in the woods where Reala and the girl where sitting.

NiGHTS gasped as he looked down at the two, the light of the orb reflected in his eyes in wonder. "Reala is… Human?! What is going on?! How is he human? Why is he human?! Why is he with that girl?" NiGHTS then grabs Jackle by his cape and shakes him violently.

"STOP!" Jackle pushed him off. "Let me explain! Master has been working on new tricks, new spells, stuff like that! And he was making Reala test it! One of them was a spell that… can basically turn us nightmarens into… humans…" He points to Reala. "It obvious works well…"

"O-okay?" NiGHTS was lost for words, not really knowing how to process everything at once. "Wait, that still does not explain why Reala is still with this same girl. Is he going to kill her or not?"

"I don't think so… But I don't know… See, last thing I saw was Reala killing these human males because they had tortured the girl. And then he took her back to his little camp and has been taking care of her since. But… I am not sure if Reala is gaining more of her trust to kill her or…"

"OR WHAT?!"

"Or… Liking her…" Jackle vaguely answers with a disgusted tone.

NiGHTS was silent for a second in thought. Jackle turned his attention to the two who were closely seated together under the tree and sitting before the fire. She was asleep and he was falling in and out of sleep, keeping watch.

"Jackle…" NiGHTS comes to a conclusion and turns to him. "Do you happen to have those spells that Wizemen was using?"

"Um… Yeah, I do. I am a little hesitant to use them though…" He goes into a pocket in his cape and pulls out a piece of parchment with that same strange language written all over it.

"Jackle… I care about humans a lot, if you could not tell… So if he is planning or killing this girl who has been through so much, I will not stand by, even if we are not sure. Give the spells to me right now." He holds out his white glove, glaring at him intensely.

"WHAT? NO WAY! If master found out I gave the spells to YOU of all nightmarens, he would have my head! And I am not joking! Did you know that if I am killed, you can see my actual body!? I'm not wearing anything!" Jackle backs up.

But NiGHTS grabs him and forced him to look at the girl up close. "LOOK AT HER! DO YOU REALLY THINK SHE DESERVES TO DIE?!" NiGHTS yells. "Reala can go so low and I will not let it happen again, not this time! Give me the spells or I swear Jackle, I will push you into the black sea…!"

Before Jackle could protest again, NiGHTS swept the paper from his hands and floated up into the air away from him. "Wow, that should be pretty simple! I have to give it to that old man…" NiGHTS nods after going over it.

"Give it back!" Jackle flew up into the air.

"I can remember this, here!" NiGHTS threw the paper away and Jackle quickly caught it with a sigh of relief.

As Jackle was trying to straighten the paper up, NiGHTS flew down and looked around. "Where is that bird when you need it…?" He then spotted the old owl perched up on a tree branch, obviously sleeping.

"OWL!" He jumped up and screamed in the owls face. He jumped back in a panic, but NiGHTS caught him and held him.

He was going to start yelling and questing why his sleep was disturbed but NiGHTS stopped him. "I need you to keep watch over the dream gates! Don't ask why, I'll explain when I come back! If anything happens you are to call upon me, okay?!"

"OKAY!"

Then NiGHTS drops owl and he caught himself right before he hit the ground and slowly flew back up, shedding a few feathers.

"Wait! You are leaving now?!" He called after him as he flew over to one of the left-over doorways.

"Wait!" Jackle set the orb near the fountain and flew to catch up with NiGHTS. "Can I come with you?! Please! I promise, I will be good!"

"Why should I trust you?" NiGHTS pushed him back.

"I obviously don't care about humans or Reala. I just want to see what the human world is actually like! I won't get in the way and I won't take sides! Please!" He begs again.

"I'm going to pretend that you are not follow me… But if I tell you to do something, you better do it!" NiGHTS then turns to the doors and disappears along with Jackle, leaving owl very confused. But, he was able to perch himself on the fountain's edge near the orb, and look into it as he watched Reala and the girl.

"How will we do this exactly?" Jackle follows NiGHTS into the nightopia.

"Alright, this is a time where you listen to me," NiGHTS says and turns to Jackle. "We can't jump into the dark sea because there is no guarantee that we will end up in the same world as them or if we will make it at all…" He explains.

"But… There is one way…. And you must promise me that you will not tell Wizemen about it. And you will never be able to use it anyways because I will change its location after this… I have this portal…. It can take us to any realm we want but, the location is a little off. So we might set it to teleport us right to Reala, but we could be miles and miles away from him. So you have to trust me on this."

Jackle nods and as NiGHTS turns to lead the way, he gets a big smile on his face that is full of excitement.

"Don't worry… He won't hurt you now…" NiGHTS mutters as they approach the area in which the portal hides.

"Do you use this often?" Jackle pears into the cave that was hidden beyond the trees.

"Sometimes I check up on some kids- or I mean, old visitors from time to time and I will fly around the humans world, but I never stay too long. But we will have to break that rule and do it anyways…" NiGHTS presses an oddly shaped rock into the wall and a large slab of stone moves aside revealing a bright blue, ocean like texture that was slowly moving around.

"Hold on, I have to set it for the world they are in and the location as well…" NiGHTS types into a panel.

"How long have you had this for?" Jackle looks around.

"That happens to be none of your concern, Jackle." He backs up and the portal changes its color to a dark purple.

"Alright, lets go." NiGHTS holds out his hand to Jackle.

"Wow, what are you doing?" Jackle steps away in disgust to his strange gesture.

"If we hold hands, we have a better chance of making it threw together without getting separated. So just hold my hand, it will be over in seconds…" NiGHTS sighs.

"Okay…." Jackle awkwardly takes his hand and follows him through the portal to the humans territory.

* * *

"Are you okay?" Reala shakes me awake in a panic.

"W-what?" I rub my eye and sit up.

"You were yelling in your sleep… Are you okay?"

"Yeah… I just had a nightmare…" I look back at him.

"About what?"

"... What happened when I was with those men…" I shrug up and curl into the blanket we shared. I still felt bad about keeping the blanket to myself, so I shared it with him again. It was even better than the last time because he was actually kind of warm.

"Its normal to be haunted by bad events that are recent and fresh in the mind… I can promise you that it was just you're self consciousness doing that. Its going to be a long and hard process to recover from what happened… Just take it one step at a time…"

He had to keep calming me down every now and then when I had frequent panic attacks. It was nice being stuck with him… Even if I can't have him here forever, I can at least enjoy the time he will be here… At least I still have him this far at all… I've never been so grateful to have a friend…

Even though I'm still unsure about Reala being human, which I still find hard to believe, I'm going to have to trust him now that he refuses to leave me alone for more than a minute. I know he is worried and does not want bad things to happen well he was not looking, but I can barely pee without knowing that Reala is just a few feet away…

People would think that having a special protector like this is so amazing and great, but it is not. I'm grateful that he cares and is making an effort, but really? I can pee by myself… And I can also pick up the little branches around the little area without his help.

I don't like sitting under a tree in the shade well Reala does all the hard work for me. And I'm going to need to learn all this anyways… We have been here a few days and I think we have argued more than anything else.

"No, I will not allow you to go by yourself!" He tries to get the last word.

"It's right there! What is your problem with me and walking? You will see me the whole time! What could possible happen when I walk over there, get those red things, and come back?!" I was already on my feet, ready to walk away.

"Okay…" He presses his fingers to the sides of his head, eyes closed in frustration. "First of all, those are apples. Second, your legs are going to give out under you, they are already wobbling uncontrollably. Third, you could _slowly_ walk over there, _slowly _be making your back when people come swinging out of the trees, grab you and swing away, or they can run up pick you up and run away."

"W-what?! That sounds absolutely insane! What are the chances that men will swing out of the trees and get me?! Besides, if something did happen, you will be right here!"

"What if something happened to me or I was distracted and you got kidnapped?"

"But you'd be watching me the whole time! That's why I asked for permission, knowing you'd want to at least watch me do it!" I point dramatically.

"Sit down! Your legs are going to collapse!" He points.

"NO!" I stand my ground with the little strength I had left in my legs.

"Well, its not like you can walk over there by yourself anymore." He stands his ground as well with a smirk, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Oh yeah? Watch me!" I turn to face the direction I was going to go and slowly lifted one leg and was able to place it down a little ways away from me. I then tried to move the other leg, but my knees gave out and I fell down.

"You better stay down!"

But I sat up and started to scoot my way.

"Okay, this is so sad. It will take you at least until nightfall to get to the tree and it will be noon when you come back. Let ME go get it." He started to walk past me.

But I threw myself forward, grabbing a hold of his legs. "Will you get off?!" He tries to shake me, but I refused to let go.

"If you leave me, someone could get me well you are gone!"

"But it would not take me 10 minutes, unlike _some _people around here!"

"NOO!" I shake my head as he tries to take a step forward. I grabbed the foot that was making the step and he fell down as well. "HAHA! Look whose grounded now!" I laugh.

He pushed me off and got to his feet, taking a few steps away from me. "Okay, there is no winning with you, you demon!" He points.

"So, I'll just have to take you with me…" He walks up to me and picks me up without any effort. "Next time, I'll let you make you're own stupid decisions…" He grumbles as he walks over to the tree with the bright red apples hanging from it.

I reached up with both hands and got my hands around it. It was such a smooth, hard texture with its odd shape and color. After looking it over to see how perfectly red it was, I tried to pull it off, but it would not let go. So I tugged and still could not get it.

"Please stop. Seeing you with your weak little arms is really a despairing sight," He says, his words make me slowly take my hands away in shame.

I held onto him as he used his one hand to simply pluck it off its branch without much strength. He handed it to me and I took it slowly, still surprised he was able to do that without even trying.

I look at the apple in my hands, just gazing upon it with large eyes. He was watching me watch the apple for a moment until he went, "Do you know how to eat it?"

I look back at him as he stares at me. "Hold on..." He sighs and looks up at the tree. He then, stands up on his toes and balanced me on a lower, thick branch. When I looked up, I could see so many more apples that were hidden within. He takes the apple that was too big for my hands and looks back at me.

"You just bite into it… We have a fruit like this back in nightmare… Its shape and color is a little different, but its the same for the most." He then, holding it at an angle, deeply bites into the flesh, breaking the skin in the process. There was a strange crackling noise when he did so.

My stomach was turning in anger, about to eat itself. I leaned towards him, hoping to eat it as well. He hand it up to me. When I looked at where he bit in, it was all white and juicy.

He gently turned the apple around so I was looking at a new, all red side. I slowly approached my mouth to it, not sure how it was going to taste. As I was about to land my teeth, I look back at him who was still waiting for me. So I placed my teeth down and tried my hardest to bite in. Luckily, he didn't have to bite it for me.

The sensation of the rich juices was overflowing and the red skin was so chewy and tender compared to the delicate and soft flesh under. My bite was smaller than his by a dramatic size.

I looked back up at him as I swallowed the rest of it. He grins. "Do you like it?"

I look back at my small bite and began to lick the white part that was now visible. I got some of the juice and the taste of the inside.

"I think that's a good thing…" He gives an uncertain look. "I'll get some more…" He then walks around the tree.

By the time he got back with four apples, I had finished the apple I had in hand. "You finished it already? That was quick…" He mutters. I then drop the remaining part of the apple that, I had to learn the hard way, was inedible...

He watched it fall to the ground where a pile of eaten apples lay. There were almost twice as many on the ground I had already eaten then in his hands. He looks back up in surprise and then sighs with a frustrated look. "Are you _still _hungry for more?" He asks.

I shake my head. "Then hold these and don't eat any. I'm going to get some more…" He walks around the tree again, gathering many more.

* * *

_**Man, was I hungry well writing this last part. Hope you liked it! So, NiGHTS seemed a little out of character in my opinion, but I had to make him/her that way because of the situation. Don't worry, next chapter will have a some more fluff! But, the plot will be set back on track during the next chapter if you guys were wondering. **_

_**So, did you guys like the fluff? Did you like the dark stuff better? Would you even consider what I wrote up above fluff? Should I give the chapters names? Any questions? Someone asked a lot of questions during my last chapter which I am very much open to! So please, don't feel shy, I'd love to explain something or make something clear. Please review! I feed off that stuff guys, its like a small child and candy, I can live off it for weeks! So feed me reviews! (Yes, still fishing for reviews...) Now, I shall go look for apples, cause that really made me hungry, not joking. **_


	8. Chapter 8

**_So a little over a week ago I posted chapter 7, so this must be a new record or something. You all know I never post this quickly, so I hope you guys were excited to see me up so quickly! I went back over this chapter about three times now, so it should be all good, but tell me if it is not. Thanks for taking time to read my work and staying with it! So, stop reading this and get to it! _**

* * *

But we have had our good times too. After we got all those apples, he got more, knowing I'd eat them when he is not looking. Which was true. So there was no point in eating them behind his back when he knows, but I still do it like that. Its been four days and on the fifth morning Reala had packed up the little things he had with him.

"Come on… We have to go…" He walked up to me and looks down at me sitting on the ground with the blanket under me.

"Uh… Do we have to?" I look around my cozy little spot in disappointment.

"Yes."

"I mean… _Have_ to?"

"Yes, we _have _to." He sighs. "So, get up."

"But, I mean, _have _to meaning not _now_?" I give a hopeful grin.

"No, _have_ to meaning _now_." He points downward.

"No, I mean _have _to meaning _have _to, but _have _to is not at this moment, but later."

"_No_. _Have_ to meaning get off your butt _right now_."

"No, I mean-"

"I KNOW WHAT YOU MEAN!" He stops me from going on.

It was silent for a few seconds as we stare at eachother after his loud outburst.

"So, to be clear, _not _now?" I ask.

"Oh, for the love of…" He rubs his face with one hand. "Its like dealing with a child. This is why we don't have children in nightmare, for this exact reason."

"Then that makes you a father in this world… Father Reala." I get an evil smirk, trying not to laugh.

"Stop… Just… Stop…" He closes his eyes.

"So later then…" I lean back on the tree.

"Get. Up. Now." He grabs me by my arm, forcing me to my feet. He picks up the blanket and wraps it around me. "We. Are. Leaving." He says very slowly.

"Why?" I ask as he pulls me along.

"Because I said so."

That was all I got out of him until we got onto the path, the trees blocking out the light from the trail. It was not so hot so I could stand to wear the blanket.

"Ow, ow, ow…" I stop walking and lean forward.

"What?" He stops a few feet ahead and looks back.

"Ow, ow, ow…" I repeat and then slowly get down on my knees.

"Oh, your legs…" He walks over to me.

"Eh…" I try and adjust myself as I sit down.

"We don't have time for this." He picks me up again, ignoring the bruises and sores.

"Ow…"

"I know…" He sighs and continues to walk along at a fast pace, now that he does not need to wait for me.

"Ow…"

"Okay, now you need to stop complaining…" He seems to glare out of the corner of his eyes.

It was kind of nice being carried like this, not having to walk myself and still getting to look at the pretty scenery. And at the pace he was walking at, much faster than I thought, it was actually kind of nice. I thought I'd hate being carried, but he has not dropped me or anything, so I guess its okay.

* * *

"Jackle? Jackle, where are you?" NiGHTS searches through the nearby bushes. "Jackle, you can't let anyone see you!" He loudly whispers well looking around. Getting a little annoyed, he yelled Jackle's name as loud as he could, scaring birds out of the trees around him.

"Whoa, whoa, relax! I'm right here! Geez, gotta scare the Earth animals?" He comes from behind a tree.

"What is wrong with you?!"

"Well…"

"Not what I meant! Look, I told you, you need to listen to me when I tell you. Were you even listening when I told you that?" He grabs him by his cape's caller.

"Yes, I was! Can we just start looking for them?! This place is not as great as I thought it would be…"

"Good. We should start by using that spell. I'll go first, then you next." He stands back.

"Okay…" Jackle steps back, waiting for NiGHTS to quickly get it over with.

"…" As he was performing the ritual, Jackle tried to be as silent and be as still as possible. The cloud of dust that had engulfed him completely was starting to fade and Jackle leaned in close in curiosity to see if it was successful or not.

"Wow, it actually works!" Jackle's eye's widen as a human was now standing before him.

"Of course it worked, I did all the steps right… Hey, wait…"

"Wait, what? Uh… Oh…" Jackle noticed as well.

"Wait a second… Jackle… About the gender… How does that work with this spell?" NiGHTS peers down at his new body in confusion.

"Okay, don't get mad at me, I've never actually tried this before."

"I know that, you told me, but… Jackle, this is a female's body…"

"Yeah… Um… So, I wouldn't be to worried about it." Jackle waves it off as if its nothing, but he was still just as shocked as NiGHTS was.

"Why? Isn't it obvious?"

"Trust me, its not _that _noticeable…"

"W-WHAT?!" NiGHTS flips out and flashed Jackle a look. But before he could get to him, he stopped.

"W-why am I offended by that?! What is going on?!" He put his hands on his face in a panic.

"Realx! Its just the human hormones kicking in. You know how humans are… more unique…"

"Now it's your turn! Do it, do it now!" NiGHTS yells, still freaking out. He (or now we should say she) wanted to make sure Jackle got the same punishment as she did.

"WHAT? NO! THIS CAN'T BE!" NiGHTS drops to her knees as Jackle's human state revealed he was in fact, a man. "IT IS NOT FAIR!"

"Come on, aren't we here for another reason other than what our gender might be?" Jackle was able to put his hands on his hips without that awkward thought of how you could not see his body.

"Yes, I suppose…" She stands up.

"Besides, I heard that in the human world, females are treated better than men in some ways. So take advantage of that, will ya?"

"Yeah, sure… But that spell should have given me more feminine clothes if it were going to turn me into a female…" She examines what had been transformed with her.

"Aw, sweet! I still got my cape!" Jackle hugs the fabric tightly with a big smile.

"Alright. Now, if I were Reala, trying to take a human girl somewhere where her screams can't be heard, where would I go?" She looks around at their surroundings.

* * *

"Now, where to go, where to go…" He stops when the path splits into two ways.

"That way!" I close my eyes and point with a big smile.

"Yeah, like I'm taking your advice. I'm actually tempted to go the opposite way." He looks back and forth at me and the paths before him.

"Wait, I have something…" He then sets me down on a rock next to us and he goes through the bag he had. He then pulls out a large piece of rolled up paper and unrolls it. There were a few papers within the large one, one being of large green clumps and then blue surrounding it, another being of a closer view of a certain green shape with labeled names all over it. He pulled that one out and examined it closely.

"We came from Warthford, which is south-west and we are heading north-east. So if we go-" He rambles aloud to himself as he points around to various points and names on the paper.

"I knew this map would come in handy!" He seemed proud of himself as he rolled it back up with the others and put it back in the bag.

"You were right, we are heading in your direction." He picks me back up and we go down the path I had suggested. "The other path was to a military base. That would have done us no good…" He smiles.

The forest was starting to thin, less and less trees were appearing the farther we went, but there were still a lot of trees and bushes around. More sun was coming, making my body get heated up rather quickly. I thought I'd hate it, but it was kind of refreshing versus getting blown in the face with freezing cold air from a vent.

"Let's stop here… This human body is taking some getting used to… I'll be back in a minute…" He sets me down on a very small rock and leaves the bag with me. "Oh, I almost forgot!" He runs back.

"Use this if anyone you don't know is approaching." He pulls out a strange black thing from the bag. It was about as long as his forearm and looked really lightweight. "This is baton." He holds it up to show me.

He handed it over to me and the moment he let go, I felt its true weight, causing me to drop it, making it hit the rock with a loud thud. I slowly lifted it up and was able to hold it.

"Swing it at me." He takes a step back.

"WHAT?"

"Swing at me." He orders again, folding his arms over his chest.

So I twisted my body, clasping the baton in both hands and looked right at him. Then, I used all the strength in my upper body and sawng my arms out, towards him. Afraid I might hurt him, I closed my eyes.

Once the strength was gone and the power I used to push it, my arms dropped and it made that loud noise again when it hit the rock. I slowly open my eyes again to see him still standing there.

"Fair enough…" He takes it back from me. "I'll teach you later, but for now…" He sets it back in the bag, keeping it hidden, yet easy to pull out. "I will be back. Remember that." He points to the bag as he started to walk away.

"And don't leave!" He points, still walking.

"I can't."

"And don't eat anything you are not sure about. No, don't eat anything at all that you find!"

"I won't."

"And don't talk to strangers!"

"Go!" I point back at him and he disappeared into the bushes. "Geez…" I sit back on the rock and look around.

I glanced at the colorful plants along the ground. There were so many here… I reached down and touched a white one. It was so fragile that my touch broke the thin white layers, making them fall to the grass. I then reached for the one next to it, this time, I pulled at it from the ground, pulling up some dirt with it.

I broke off the dirt and the little lines that came from it, only holding the fuzzy green steam and the white on top. They really are pretty… I was able to entertain myself with it until he came back.

"So now we are picking flowers, it seems…" He walks back over. "I'm going to get some wood, maybe some food, if I find any. Just stay here and play with your flower." He waves as he walks around the open area we were in.

So its a flower. There are so many different colors around the grassy area I was in. White, pink, blue, purple, yellow, all in bright, light colors… I wonder if they come in different colors to. When he was not looking, I throw myself to my feet and picked all the flowers I could. It was good to strengthen my legs, stretching them out without hurting them…

When I went back to the rock, I had all these flowers but had no idea what to do with them. As I organized them by color, there was a rustling in the bushes from behind me. I glanced over my shoulder to see that the bushes were moving and it was either a very large creature… Or a man…

Reala was not in sight, but he wondered over the other way and I'd hope he was not trying to scare me. So I reached down and rested my hand on the baton that was still in its place.

Just as someone or thing was coming from the bushes, I closed my eyes, to afraid to look at whatever was there and quickly lifted the baton from the bag and struck whatever was there, _hard_.

"AHH! MY FACE!" A high pitched scream, followed by loud wailing came from who I had hit. They then collapsed to the ground, still in pain, still screaming loudly.

"Hey, what's going on?!" Reala runs back from wherever he was to see me still holding the baton in the air and someone lying on the ground crying. Reala took the baton, holding it himself and got beside me.

My heart was beating so hard, thumping right under the skin of my chest, I thought it was going to explode. My hands were sweating and I could not control my breathing.

Without much thought I yelled, "HIT HIM AGAIN!" I was in absolute panic.

"My pleasure…!" Reala raised the bar, but was stopped by someone else's voice.

"Jackle, don't run ahead of me! Didn't you hear that scream!? It sounded so blood curdling, don't leave me alone!" Someone else came towards us but stopped to see the man on the ground. Reala with the baton and me in a panic attack.

"J-J-Jackle?! You idiot! What in the hell!?" Reala then hit his leg with the baton, but not as hard as I had hit his face.

"Reala! Stop!" The girl grabbed Reala's arm as he lifted it to strike down again.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Jackle, who was still on the ground, yelled back, his gloves covered in deep red from his nose. "AH!" He covered his nose again, sounding in pain.

"DAMN YOU!" Reala threw the baton down the ground near him in frustration, shaking the girl off of him. "WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING HERE?!" He sounded so mad… I had never heard this voice before…

"Uh…" The girl stared at him, speechless.

"You didn't even come up with an excuse!?" Jackle loudly whispers to her.

"And you did?!" She turns to him.

"What could _you _possibly want?" Reala lowers his voice, yet it still sounded just as enraged.

"Well… Can't we talk about this later… I mean, look at him!" She points to Jackle who was still on the ground.

"No! I want to know now!"

She sighs and thinks for a moment. "Wizemen was getting suspicious so we came to see what was going on." She admits.

"Because master would send the traitor and the _idiot_!" He glares at Jackle. "It would have made more sense to just send Clawz!"

"Well, he didn't! Besides, I was not really invited…" She chuckles nervously, scratching the back of her head, and tried to look away.

"Of course, you were not… What am I going to do with you halfwits?" He takes a deep breath, his anger fading slowly. "Not you…" He looks at me and puts his hand on my head, keeping it there.

As it was silent for a moment, not counting Jackle's occasion groans, the girl noticed me under Reala's hand and then got a bright smile.

"Come on, Jackle. Don't get blood on anything." Reala takes his hand off my head and walks over to Jackle.

As he was helping him, the girl came near me and got on her knees next to me. "Hi! My name is NiGHTS. What's you're name?"

She was so cheerful and happy. It was kind of nice. I was not used to this kind of attitude.

"…" I stare at her speechless, not knowing what to say.

"Oh, come on! You have to have a name!" She grins.

"I…" I started to say, not knowing how to tell her exactly. "I don't have one…"

She looked a bit surprised by that. "You don't have a name? Why not?"

"Because, where I am from, they don't give you a name. They do, but its not a name…"

"Oh… Well, even still, it is nice to meet you!" She smiles again. She then noticed the flowers in color groups next to me. "Are these yours?" She picks one up lightly.

"Yeah… I'm not sure what to do with them though…" I look down at my legs that were stretched out before me.

"I know something we can do with them! May I?"

I nod and she quickly got to work, grabbing flowers every few seconds to add to whatever she was doing. Well she worked, I glanced back at Reala, who was cleaning the blood of Jackle's face with an unpleased expression on his own.

He then got up and threw the old rag at his face, walking off and coming back with some water. He took off his jacket and rolled up his sleeves, showing more pale skin, as he scooped up water in one hand and threw it at Jackle's face. He then takes the rag and dipped it in the water.

"Done!" NiGHTS cheerfully announced and I turn back to see her holding a large circle made of most of the flowers I had gathered. "It's a flower crown!" She smiles, holding it up in the air as she was so proud of it.

"How did you make that?" I take it from her and look over at the detailed work of the green stems tied together.

"Huh? Would you like to learn? I can teach you, but we would have to get more flowers."

"Alright…" I set the crown on the rock and quickly gather a little more than I had last time. As she was teaching me, I remember back when she first showed up, she knew Reala right away.

"How do you know Reala?" I ask, paying attention to my work, not taking my eyes off it.

"Oh… I'm… His sibling…" She seems to smile, but it did not look like she wanted to be smiling.

"So, brother and sister, huh?" I glance up for a quick second.

"Yup! … Yup…" She nods. "We don't get along very well, you will soon see… And with Jackle here, tripping over his cape all the time…"

"Is he your brother too?"

"Yeah, but not like me and Reala. Its complicated…" She looks down at the flower crown in her lap.

"He explained it to me somewhat." I shrug, not caring too much on the subject.

"He did?" She looked up, surprised.

"Yeah…" I started on another crown after I finished my first one.

"You know you wear them, right?" She smirks as she takes my first crown and placed it on my head.

"I guess that makes sense. I was wondering what we were making these for anyways…"

"Haha, yeah. I always like to make them for my friends. Usually I have more color flowers to work with though…" She then stands up.

"Sorry for hitting your friend in the face… I got scared…" I look down as I was finishing my second crown.

"Its fine. I think he deserved it, just a little, at least…" She grins and walks over to Jackle, tossing the crown onto his head. She came back and sat in the same place.

"So… How has Reala been treating you? He has not been too mean to you?" She asks.

"Yeah. We fight sometimes, but its for my own good. He is really nice to me, actually."

"He is… Nice to you?" She seemed frozen in place.

"Yeah…" I say slowly as I look at her shocked expression. "He has been protecting me this entire time…" I go back to the crown.

"Really… That is interesting. Wait, what do you guys fight about?"

"Stupid stuff. Just little arguments that I usually start and he ends." I grin, thinking about apples.

* * *

**_I'm really enjoying writing all this nice stuff for you all, its been fun and the fun shall progress! I hope this story will be done by the end of the school year (For me) which is the first or second week of June. Don't worry, it won't be 50 chapters or anything SUPER crazy! But I really hope to keep this going for as long as I can.  
_**

**_When in the middle of writing this chapter, I realized that there is no true antagonist at the moment, so I will be working on that for the up coming chapters. Also, tell me if I made a mistake at all! I'd love to make sure its correct! _**

**_So... What did you think? It's almost to chapter 10 and seeing how far I have come with this and my writing in general is really mind blowing to me. Did you guys like that I added in NiGHTS and Jackle? Should they stay? I personally like them being there, it gives me more to write about. Hey, did you guys notice that she didn't have a name? Yeah, I didn't either. But I like it that way and I don't know what name I'd like to give her. Any suggestions on that? If so, please feed me reviews!_**

**_!And one LAST thing so you people can get back to whatever you were doing beforehand. So, she left the Asylum a lonngg time ago. Do you think the name of the story is still relevant? I've been debating on this topic the last two weeks and I wanted your consent. I'm not sure about a new name, but, is the name it has still okay? I think it is because it is still effecting her and all. But, shes also putting it behind her. ...? Please, tell me what you guys think, I really need some other opinions on this! This is very important! And plus, you guys feed me more :D  
_**

**_Thanks again!_**


	9. Chapter 9

**_Hey! So, everything should be good, please tell me if something is wrong/misspelled. This one is extra long for you guys, since I took so long. Hey, look, its chapter 9! Wow! Oh, wait, we don't celebrate until it hits chapter 10 :3 Thanks for sticking with it and all your support, I feel so loved! So, get into your prime state for reading and get to it!_**

* * *

"And _you_!" He set his sights on NiGHTS. "What are you doing? Get away from her!" He points as he makes his way over.

"Look Reala! Isn't she pretty?!" NiGHTS turned me to face him. I had on the flower crown and I was still working on the second one.

I had not been paying attention and even when I was turned, I kept still, not really taking too much interest to their conversation.

"Pretty?!" He looked shocked that she brought such a strange topic up.

"Yeah, she's so cute! An adorable human she is! Right Jackle? Is she pretty!?" NiGHTS rested her hands on my shoulders as she spoke to the boys.

"Huh?" Jackle looked up. He had a big, shameful, black eye and a chipped tooth. There was a bandage wrapped over his head and under his jaw to keep the tooth in place just in case it would try and break off or move out of place. When he saw I was the discussion topic, his attitude changed within the blink of an eye.

"Y-y-yeah!" He got a big nervous smile. "She's so... So... Lovely!" He gave a faint chuckle that faded into the pain from his tooth and some sadness.

"Yeah Reala! Shes so pretty, I swear, she must be a princess from the human fairy tales! Don't you think she is pretty?" She ended the last sentence as if gritting her teeth.

He looked like he was going to say something. His face had gotten a bit red and the look he had was soft and relaxed, unlike the past few days.

But he quickly breaks away from that and growls at NiGHTS. "What does that have to do with anything?! The current situation is _not _to dress her up like a princess and play 'knights rescues the princess from the dragon'!"

"What?" NiGHTS perks up as if he was referring to her.

Slapping his hand to his forehead in frustration for a second time, he closed his eyes and sighs deeply.

"Reala, you should not do that so much... Your forehead is starting to turn... Pink..." I point as he took his hand from his face.

"That is such a great idea, Reala! It would be so fun!" NiGHTS clapped along with a big smile. "Me and you are going to be best friends!" She turns to me.

"No... No, no, no, no, no! Absolutely not!" Reala walked over and took my hand, pulling me up to my feet.

"But why?!" NiGHTS whined as I was pulled away.

"Because I said so!"

"Reala, that is no fair!" She crossed her arms over her chest with a disapproving look on her face.

"I still don't trust you! I will not let you influence her in any way! And the best way to keep that from happening is to keep you two apart. Which I think is _very _fair."

"What would I influence her to do?!" NiGHTs looked confused.

"... I don't know and I don't want to find out. Look, she is my responsibility! And because it seems that neither of you can make it out here alone, have no where to go and can't go back to nightmare, you are stuck with us. So don't try anything, you hear me?! You are just extras and if I need you, I will tell you. But we don't need your help and we don't need your commentary throughout this journey. Understood?" He glanced back at Jackle.

"Yes…" They both groan.

"Good. We are camping here for the night and in the morning we will move forward." He looked at the both of them who looked disappointed.

"And as for you. You are not to leave my sight at all." He turns to me.

"Well, no new news to me…" I sigh.

"You will go everywhere with me only. Come on." He leads me away. We walked a little ways away from them into the forest near a small creek. I glanced into the clear water to see little things wiggling around below the surface.

I got down on my knees and bent down to get a closer look at what was in the water. Then, a small gold thing jumped from the surface of the water and back in. I had jumped back, but when I saw it really could not do anything, I got closer. My tangled hair was brushing against the fast pace water, which was nice, since I have not bathed in a while, come to think of it.

"If they tell you to go with them or do something, don't listen to them. You can't trust them. But hopefully, they won't get close enough to you to tell you that without me being there to scare them off. So be careful. I know they seem stupid and harmless and the only thing they could possibly ever hurt was themselfs, but they are capable of a little more than that…" He looks down at the ground.

He noticed me looking into the water and walked up behind me and looked in as well. "Ah, so these must be what fish are like in this world."

Another jumped up, not to far from my face and flopped back in. "Hm… I wonder if you can eat them…" He gets on his knees next to me and looks down at the same angle as I was.

When another fish jumped up, with quick reflexes, he snached the small thing in his hand and squeezed it until it ceased its squirming for good. He then opens his hand and looked at it in his palm. He sniffs it quick and looks over its little body.

"It smells okay… and it looks edible… But I think we should cook it, just to be sure… I don't want you to die or something…" He gets up.

"Me?" I look back up at him as he got to his feet.

"Yeah, you. I don't eat much. I'll try a bite first, just make sure, like I said, you don't die or something."

"Oh…" I turn to look back at the water.

"Well, come on." He gestures as he starts to walk away.

"Can't I stay for a while?" I look back.

"No, remember what I said? I know humans can swing from the trees, don't doubt me. And one of those two… _things _might try to come over here and run off with you or drown you or something…"

"Well, I kind of wanted to… You know… Bath…" I point slowly.

"Not now. I know, I know. But soon, I promise. At the most, two more days. The water is too shallow here and… Yeah, come on, lets go." He holds out his other hand to help me up.

"Feel this." He holds the fish out to me. I take one finger and gently stroke it.

"Ew…!" I quickly snatch my hand away. "What _is _that?" I wipe my hand on my shirt. "It's all.. Slimy and…"

"Yeah, doesn't it feel strange?"

"Then why did you want me to touch it if you knew?!"

"I just wanted a second opinion…"

When we got back, they were in their same places. Jackle saw me and tensed up and NiGHTS grinned as she plucked the grass and made a small pile of it. Reala and I had collected sticks on our way back for a fire and we set them down in the center of the area. He organized them and then started to make the actual fire.

"Oh, something smells good!" NiGHTS perks up and looks over at the fire.

"Umm… I'm really hungry too…" Jackle drools to the scent.

Reala was making me hold the stick with the fish pierced through the end that was over the fire. He would tell me to flip it every now and then.

"What are you cooking? Dinner?!" NiGHTS wonders over and sits close to me.

"Is that fish?!" Jackle sits down across from me and the tiny fire.

"Fish? What kind of fish?" NiGHTS asks.

"Who cares! It smells _so _good." Jackle stares at the little thing cooking.

"What kind is it? Is it good?"

"Will you two shut up!" Reala opens his eyes and glares at the two. "Stop mooching off her and get your own food!" He points. "… Loafers…" He mumbles under his breath.

"What?!" NiGHTS looks shocked. "Please, please, please?!" She grabbed my arm and shakes me.

"Get out of here!" Reala jumps to his feet and picks up a large stick from the ground. "Get, get!" He pokes her forcefully. "Shoo!" He then threatens Jackle.

They both ran off and Reala sat back down next to me. "Okay… Let me try it…" He sighs as I pull back the stick with the fish on it. It did smell good…

"Here… I'll try this part…" He rips off a small piece. As he ate it, he looked at the inside of the fish with a concerned look. "I'll break off the pieces for you… I didn't really think about the inside…" He tares off another and hands it over to me.

As the fish was starting to disappear, I had figured out what to eat and what not to eat. Reala reached out to the fish and asks, "Can I have another small piece…?"

As his hand came near, I scooted away from him and snapped at his hand. He pulls his hand away, back to himself, eyes wide as he watched me eat. "Maybe we should get you into some civilized area cause…" He paused.

"Uh…" Was all he could say as he watched me finish the remaining flesh of the fish by myself.

* * *

We were heading out of the forest and back into the beautiful grassland I was in before. Reala had me on his back, thinking I would be able to see more when I told him how much I loved the grassland. The sun was beating down, but the breeze kept it from getting too hot, and the sun kept it from getting too cold. It was perfect.

The only thing that was bothering me was Reala's hair kept blowing back at me. His hair was rather long. When I was in the city, I had seen a few men with hair this long, but not many.

There was not much I could do about it other than complain and push it back over his shoulders. After doing it for the tenth time, I glanced over at NiGHTS, who was walking ahead of us.

Her hair was also just as long and thick. The only difference was that her hair was yellow...ish… Blond? I'm sure thats the name of it. Blond. And her hair fell shorter over her eyes versus Reala whose hair was the same length all around.

They had looked a lot alike when you look at their faces. NiGHTS dressed in brighter colors, mainly purple. And Reala was dressed darker. I always imagined that twins or even siblings would end up being very much a like. Their personalities are different as was just about everything else…

Jackle on the other hand was more in between the two. With both bright and dark colors. The only problem was he was too scared of me, so I don't really know what he is like. I tried to say I was sorry multiple times, but he was still scared after lying and saying, 'oh, its okay'. Even though he still flinches when I do something, even if it from a far distance. I still feel bad for hitting him…

We walked for a very long time. I never could have imagined a world so big… I wonder how big it _really _is… How far could you go? What things we might come across… What people we might meet… What we might see… These thoughts kept me feeling nice and warm, keeping me away from previous thoughts that still lingered in my confused head.

"How much farther do we have to walk?" NiGHTS whines as she slowly starts to drag herself along.

"Stop complaining, we can't be far from some type of civilization," Reala says.

"But… But I'm hungry! And its hot! And my feet hurt! And this bag is heavy!" She lists everything that was wrong.

"And breathing must be _so _difficult…" Reala sarcastically adds.

"Yeah, when you have to carry something heavy on your back and when it hot!" She wheezes out.

Reala glanced over at NiGHTS and NiGHTS looks at me, who was holding onto Reala's back. "... Sorry..." I quietly whisper to Reala.

"No, you're not that heavy…" He adjusted his grip on my legs.

NiGHTS sighed and looked forward, still searching for when we might rest.

"Hey, I have a good question for you two." Reala looks at both NiGHTS Jackle.

"What?" Jackle asks with an annoyed tone. He must still be tired…

He couldn't sleep well last night because of his mouth hurting and his eye was bothering him and some more blood came from his nose…

"What will you tell master when you get back?" Reala almost grins as he looked back and forth at the two walking on both sides of him.

"That _is _a good question. But then again, what are _you_ gonna tell him?" Jackle glares at him.

Reala stopped walking all of a sudden. The other two, who had kept walking a few feet, stopped and looked back at him. But then, he slowly started walking again and got back to his normal pace as well as the others.

"... Well?" Jackle asks after a few minutes.

"Shut up! I don't know! I really don't know… I'll just have to take the punishment I guess…" He looks down.

"But, Reala, you know the punishment for such acts is-" NiGHTS began to say.

"YES…" He interrupted her. "I know…"

It then fell silent. It seemed like I was the only one who did not know what this 'punishment' was supposed to mean. Because they all now had grim looks upon their somewhat similar faces.

"What is the punishment?" I then speak up.

The other two glance back at me in surprise and nervously look at Reala, awaiting his answer.

"Oh, its nothing bad, don't worry about it…" His grip on my lower leg seemed to tighten.

"Ow!" I jump in pain to the sudden feeling of his nails digging into my skin.

He right away stopped and helped me down to my feet. "Sorry… I just…" He looks at his nails with this sad, hopeless expression. "JACKLE!" He then looks up and yells.

"Y-yes?!" Jackle jumps in shock to the loud voice that called for him.

"Carry her for now…" He gestures towards me.

"Oh, um…" He stares at me. "I think she can walk for a while on her own, right?" He nods to me with a helpless look.

I nod back. "I think so…"

It was kind of nice to walk on my own, getting back my original strength and being able to stretch, but it was kind of fun being carried all the time… Reala walked ahead of all of us and I walked in the back, kind of afraid to be near any of them.

It was strange being around so many people at one time. When Reala was with me, I felt a lot better, but being alone like this made me more nervous. So, I'll go stay behind and out of the way for now… I was able to listen in on NiGHTS and Jackle's conversation.

"So, enjoying earth so far?" NiGHTS asks with a big grin, as if mocking him.

"It is nice, but its _really _hard to enjoy with all this pain in my face and _you _talking…"

"Hey, you did say you wanted to come, now didn't you?" NiGHTS smiles even wider than before.

Jackle sighs and ignores her, walking ahead a few steps. Thats when NiGHTS turned to me with that same smile.

"Hi!" She walks next to me and matches my pace.

I didn't want to be rude, so, I had to speak back. "Hi…"

"How are you feeling?" She asks.

"Okay…"

"Good! Its no fun having to be taken care of all the time."

"Yeah…"

"So… Where are you from exactly? What kind of place does not give people names?" She asks.

"Oh… This place back in the city I have lived in. Its… an insane ward…" I close my eyes and announce. Just saying those two words made my pulse quicken and a pit formed in my stomach.

"Oh… What is that, exactly?" She asks.

"Its, uh…" I try to get a grip on my words as I have sudden flashbacks rushing through my mind. "Uh… People, a place where people go if they are mentally unstable for society… uh…" I started to get a cold sweat running down my neck and back.

"Oh… Why were you there? You don't seem like someone to belong in a place like that…"

"B-because I… Uh, I…" I then come to the realize on _why_ I was there… "Uh…" Was all I could have left to say.

"Are you okay?" She raised an eyebrow.

"No, I'm not okay… But, I don't know why I was there… I think I was left there as a child because there is no… Reason…" I put my hand on my head and close my eyes, trying to drown the old memories out. But, it was no use, everything was coming back in one quick wave of emotions that filled out my body and clouded my thoughts. It happened so suddenly…

Then, things that I don't even remember came to my vision, blocking out what was really before me. It was like I was in a dream or… When I flew my eyes back open, I was no longer looking at the beauty, but a cold, wet, dark room…

There was a single light hanging from the tall ceiling. It was gently swing back and forth, its dim light barely enough to see the dirty, white walls of the small, enclosed space. No doors, no windows… Just a room.

When I looked down at my feet, I am standing in water. It was not very high at all, infact, just a quarter of an inch off the stone floor. Some areas where dry, well others were wet… When I looked up, the ceiling was no where in sight and the light that could not find it only showed the string holding the light disappear into darkness as well as the white walls that were going up.

There was one thing in the room that has been there the whole time. It was a chair. It was in a leaning back position and had torn, faded red padding on it. The metal was shining, yet rusted all over and next to the chair was a small metal looking table with a strange machine sitting on it.

Then, when I turned around, I saw a large metal door that was not there before. I ran over to it, but there was no handle to grab. I stood on my toes and looked through the window to see nothing but darkness. A little scared something might jump up, I quickly backed away. As I was pressed against the wall, I look down to see I was wearing a familiar white night gown.

So confused and overcome by emotions, I had not noticed the tall man enter the room. He was dressed in all white. White pants, white shoes, white shirt, white long jacket, a white face mask over his mouth and something white that was covering his eyes.

He adjusted white gloves that made a strange noise and were extremely thin as he walked into the room, the door closing behind him, making an echoing noise through the room and the halls. He walked towards me… And extended his hand for me…

I was going to try and run to the other corner and then to the door, but he grabbed both my wrists with a surprisingly strong grip and forced me to walk with him. He threw me back in the chair and strapped down my wrists and ankles. He then took small white dots with white cords and placed the dots on my head. He then, started to press buttons, turn knobs and flip switches on the little machine.

I closed my eyes as he stares at me, getting ready to press a very large button on the box that seemed to activate it. "Please, no… please…" I whisper, somehow knowing exactly what was going to happen and what it was.

But luckily, when I opened my eyes, I was in the field again and three familiar faces that made me feel more at ease and take a deep breath.

"Are you okay?" Reala asks. They were all standing around me from a bit of a distance as they stared right down at me.

I then use my hands, curling up my fingers and rub my face and eyes as I tried to get a hold of myself. I shake my head a bit, to see things more clearly and push those thoughts away. "I'm just tired…" I look down.

"Well, luckily we are not to far from-" Reala pointed down the trail.

"YOU SAID THAT _HOURS _AGO!" NiGHTS yells over him.

"Yeah, because its true!" He points again. "Come, look!"

He walked at a quick pace to the top of a hill we were on and then pointed downward to what lies ahead.

We all walked up to stand near him to see something was somewhat surprising and amazing at the same time. The land that sat ahead caved inward, so we could see just about everything that lays ahead of us. The trail curved around a bit, but then disappeared into an area of small buildings that were vaguely spread out. There were a lot of trees around the area, but not enough to call its a woods or forest. The grass patches of land along the hills that went up along the hills changed in different shades green, some brown, some yellow, but mainly green. And even past all that, there were tall hills in the background that looked like it was covered in nothing but a forest.

"YES! Finally!" NiGHTS yelled and started to jog down the path as well as Jackle.

"Come on, lets watch them trip and fall." Reala grins down at me as we walk down the path together.

And, his words rang true, because not too far ahead, we saw NiGHTS trip on her feet and fall flat on her face. Reala bite his lips and tried to hide a big smile that was coming on. As she was pushing herself up to her knees, Jackle runs past, laughing with a crazy, high pitched voice, sounding somewhat like the patients at the insane ward.

As he ran ahead, quick on his feet, but he was still laughing and glancing back at NiGHTS whom decided to walk with us. And because of that, he ran straight for a tree, face first into the base of it, causing a large amount of leafs to rain down around him.

Reala, who was about to bite right through his lip, could no longer hold back and burst out in uncontrollable laughter. But, when he snorted, he right away covered his mouth and raised his eyebrows in surprise. Then NiGHTS started to laugh at him in the same uncontrollable way.

As they stood there, Reala still in shock and NiGHTS laughing, I walked over to Jackle, who still has his face stuck on the tree. I was able to peel him off to see he was fine and looked just as he had before. His eye was less purple, but his noise did start to bleed again…

"Are you okay?" I ask quietly over NiGHTS laughter in the background.

He looked somewhat surprised to see me be the one at his side, but he tried to look past it and nods. "Yeah… I'm okay…" He rubs his jaw on the side that I had chipped his tooth.

He stumbled back a bit, but he was okay overall. I caught him by his hand, being able to pull his weight back so he could balance on both his feet. "Careful!" I warn as I propped him back up.

Even though he was fine on his feet, I still held his hand in both my hands. He looked a bit confused by that action, but I was just afraid he might fall over again.

"Sorry!" I take my hands away, seeing that he looked a bit annoyed.

"Come on, lets go…" Reala grabs me by my arm and leads me away from him, glancing back at him with a glare.

As we got closer and closer to the town, the size did not change all that much. It was still very small. And no one was around like they were in the city. Maybe because there were only a few buildings and not so many people?

As we walked into the street, Reala grabbed me by my arm again and pulled me close to his body. I looked up at him and was about to say something, but he had this look on his face. I had seen it before and when he has that look, I know I should just shut up and do what he wants me to.

He kept scanning the buildings that seemed somewhat empty and looked behind us where NiGHTS and Jackle were casually walking. NiGHTS had that grin on her face like always and Jackle had this calm, cool expression as he glanced around with only his eyes and held the side of his jaw in pain.

When I looked back up at Reala, his suspicion grew and so did his grip on my arm.

* * *

**_Dun, dun, DUN! It might seem like a cliffhanger, but its not really one since the part after this is not all that bad. So, this is your last chance to suggest a name for our heroine here. In the next chapter, they are going to have a little debate on her name because, like Reala said, they do want to put her back in society, but she will need a name. It can be as random as you want, I just need something for her to use. _**

**_So... What did ya think? Did you really think she was going to be over the whole "Mental Ward" thing? In fact, I think that will come more into play because she still does not know the real truth and there is no one to really tell her much about it now. So, she will be occasionally haunted, like in this chapter, she was having a past memory of electro shock therapy, which she did not remember because they fried up her long term memory like ribs without barbecue sauce on a grill, no joke. _**

**_Do you know of any crazy/weird things they did to mental asylum patients? If so, please share with meh! BTW, Jackle is going to be back to his original self, his face still hurts after all that, but this next chapter, he will return to his prime state! Did you like this chapter? _**

**_Was this BOLD print too much to read? Could you not handle the bold? Are you wondering what will happen next? Well, you will have to wait. But, maybe I could give little hints if you post a review... *Whistles in an innocent like way*  
_**


	10. Happy 10th Birthday to This Story!

_**Yello! I'm back! I was going to post yesterday, but I started playing Skyrim and when you start playing that game, you can't stop... But, anyways, tell me if I missed a mistake I might have made, please! Also, thanks for the names, in which I only got two, but hey, they are very much appreciated ^.^ Also...! Happy chapter 10 and I also hit 100 pages! This story is officially ten chapters old! They grow up so fast... Alright, go read you little ones, I need a moment... *Silent sobs***_

* * *

"Well, well, look what came rolling into town..." We hear a voice from a side alley and we all turn out heads. Everyone expect Reala jumped in shock when the man slides back a part of the gun, making a strange noise with it.

"Hm... I was really hoping this was a ghost town..." Reala sighs as the man approached us from the shadows. He was about as tall as Reala, but he looked as if he was rolling around in the dirt and his clothes were torn.

"Hey guys, you can come out!" He seems to announce. "It's just a bunch of freaks. I didn't know the circus was in town..." He grins as he lowers the large gun in his hands. "Sorry, I thought you guys were government..."

"Government?" Reala asks. The man started to walk towards us, and Reala's grip on me got stronger.

"Yeah, they come by more often than actual folks do. They claim they 'collect taxes' and take our boys to 'serve the country' and other bull like that..." He rolls his eyes as he leans in his gun.

"But I thought the government only goes through registered towns..." He glanced at the crumbling buildings.

"Yeah, I did too. But, you know with the war and all, they take all they can get." He explains as people slowly come out of the buildings, all looking the same as the man with ripped clothes and covered in dirt.

"What is this place..." NiGHTS nervously looks at the strange people drawing near well she pulled Jackle in front of her as if using him as a shield. It was a very small group that formed. About 5 adults but 8 people all together.

"Welcome to our little town!" The man who seemed the lead them, opened his arms up to us. "Where people come because they need shelter and stay because they ran out of supplies!" He grins.

"Or just run straight past..." A women grumbles as she had two little girls hugging her legs.

"Now, we try and help anyone who needs it! And these people obviously came here for some reason!" He points to the women. "My name is Daniel, but Dan is fine." The man leading points to himself.

"This positive lady over here is Ann, our only tailor and her two little girls. This is John and his wife Mary and their son, they run what's left of the inn. And this guy is Theodore. He keeps the remains of the library together." He points out everyone. "And what might the name of our new guests be?"

"I'm NiGHTS!" NiGHT gleefully waves with a big smile. I try and hide my smirk as they gave her a strange look.

"I'm Jackle..." Jackle waves lightly with an uninterested look, his hand still on his jaw.

"I'm Reala..." Reala points to himself lightly.

"And you are...?" Dan looks down at me as I stayed silent.

I was about to open my mouth, maybe I could think of something somewhat intelligent to say about myself, but instead, the others took over before I could get a word out.

"Her name is..." And all at once, they all say different names.

"... What?" Daniel looks at all of them with disbelief.

"Yes, what are you guys talking about?" Reala nearly glares at the others that stood next to us.

"Uh, her name...?" Jackle almost questions himself as he tries to step back from Reala's intimidating look, but NiGHTS was still behind him and would not move.

"Which is…?" Reala awaits his answer.

"Oh, uh, Suzette, right? I think I can remember a name like Suzette, Reala." He tries to look not as nervous.

"No, its Poppy, like the flower, you idiot!" NiGHTS comes out of hiding and stands next to Reala.

"You both are horribly wrong. Its Sakura, isn't it?" He looks down at me.

"Uh…" I stare at all three of them as I did not know whose side to take.

"Wow, those names have absolutely nothing in common." John shakes his head as he stares at us.

"Well, actually, Sakura in Japanese means 'blossom', which is technically a type of flower. And a Poppy flower is a flower. So, those two names really aren't that far off…" Theodore corrects him.

"Yeah, whatever. I meant the pronunciation of the names…" John sighs.

"Well-"

"No, they don't have anything in common…" John glares at him to shut up.

"Okay, so what is your name, exactly?" Daniel gets in between the three that were arguing over my name.

"Sakura-"  
"Poppy-"  
"Suzette-"

They all said at once, then glare at each other once they had. After a short silence, they started to argue again. I was able to casually step away as they quarreled over my name.

"So, what is your name…?" Daniel asks me directly.

"Oh… Um…" I was a little afraid to take a side, but I could not think of another name to use. "Maybe I should… wait until they settle it…" I look back at them.

"Why?" He tilts his head a little.

"Well… I don't want to take a side and... have them argue even more…" I look at my feet then up at him.

"Oh, smart…" He grins and nods in agreement to my decision. "So, where do you venture from? You guys travelers or…?" He trails off slowly.

"Oh, sorta. I'm from... Warthford. My… friends here are from… Somewhere else... I can't really remember the name…"

"Warthford?" Theodore looked shocked as well as everyone else.

"Yes…?" I question their strange reaction.

"Well, its just… Warthford is in the middle of one bloody war… I've never met anyone from Warthford. They say you don't make it out alive… Was it scary?" Ann asks.

"... It was ugly…" I recall Reala's words when he had first taken me out of the city. I had said it pretty causally, so they were now giving me strange looks.

"Oh, poor thing…" Ann looks down at her girls with the same worried look.

"Its fine... I don't remember much…" '_Of anything'_ I think after I said that.

"Well, Warthford is one hell of a ways away. Why don't you guys rest here?"

"Oh, we don't have any money… I think…" I then look back at the three still arguing.

"Man, they could go for days…" John snorts.

"R-Reala?" I walk over to him and tugged on the sleeve of his shirt.

"What?!" He turns to me, still angry over the whole situation.

"Uh… Should we stay the night here?" I point to the ground.

"Here? I suppose…"

"...Do we have any money?" I ask.

"Hey, its fine if you guys don't have any money-" Daniel was saying until Jackle threw Reala's bag to Reala, him catching it without even looking.

"How much do you guys want?" He stares at him.

"For a single night…?" Daniel turns to John and Mary.

"Uh… well, honestly… We will take anything right now… So… How about…" John exchanged looks with Mary. "At the least… 15 copper pieces?"

Reala paused as he stuck his hand in the bag. He then slowly raised his head to look at the couple who were looking afraid they might get turned down. "That's it." Reala looked so astonished at that.

"Well, if you're willing to give us more..." John gets a big grin.

"Uh, no." Reala corrects him. "15 is what you said, so it's what you get." Reala pulled a heavy, white sack out of his bag and handed it over to me.

"Fine..." John sighs with an annoyed expression. "BUT, food does cost ya extra!" He points out.

"Did it cost extra before or after you said 15 copper pieces?"

"John, will you quit it! 15 copper pieces is 15 more than we had before." His wife gently pushed his arm in a playful way.

"Alright, fine. Come on, it's getting dark..." John and Mary both lead the way.

"It was nice meeting you all." Daniel waves to us as we walked away.

* * *

"So, you girls can share the room right next to the boys!" Mary hands me the key as NiGHTS got an uncontrollably large grin on her face as she looked down at me.

"Huh?" Reala looked over at NiGHTS.

"Is something the matter?" Mary asks him.

"Yeah… You two are most certainly not sharing a room alone together!" Reala swipes the key from my hand and tightened his fist around it.

"B-but why?!" NiGHTS pouted.

"Why? Why? Didn't I already tell you yesterday why?" Reala tries to be vague well in front of Mary who looked a bit confused herself.

"But, Reala-!"

"No, because I said so!"

"Okay, then who is sharing a room with who?" Jackle asks with a tired expression as he leaned against the counter.

"I'll share it with her, you stay with Jackle." Reala points.

"WHAT?!" Both Jackle and NiGHTS jump up at the same time and yell.

"No! No way! I refuse to stay anywhere near that… that thing!" NiGHTS points to Jackle.

"That's too bad." Reala shakes his head as he pretends to pity her.

"But, but, he might draw something on my face!" NiGHTS cries as she got on her knees to beg.

"Come on! Are you serious! Why do I have to share a room with him- I mean, her!" Jackle quickly corrected himself for some odd reason. "That whining will go on all night! I can't do it, Reala, please!" He gets on his knees as well.

"Oh, so I suppose you want to share a room with me after all?" Reala looks down on Jackle who suddenly changed his expression.

"I'll share a room with Suzette." Jackle says with a straight face as he takes a step back after getting up on his feet.

"Her name is Sakura! Oh, forget it! We can figure that out later…"

"You know, all our rooms are open…" Mary takes two more keys off the wall.

"Oh, thank you!" NiGHTS hugs her from over the counter, grabbed one of the keys and ran upstairs before we knew it.

"Thanks…" Jackle takes the other key and slowly walks towards the stairs.

"I hope you feel better!" Mary calls after him and he waves goodbye as he walked up the stairs slowly.

"And you two…" She turns to us.

"I just have to look after her and I cannot trust either of them to do it…" Reala sighs, eyes closed as he explains himself.

"Oh, alright then… Goodnight…" Mary waves as we went upstairs.

The hall was pretty dark, only a single candle was lit up on the wall. He looked at the tag that was connected to the key with a small piece of string and stopped in front of a door.

"Here…" He opens the door for me as he examines the shape of the key.

Everything was made of wood. From the ceiling to the floor, everything was wood. There were no windows either…  
"Take whichever bed you want… I might not sleep much tonight anyways…" He closed the door then tested the lock.

I was pretty tired from today. Even though the bed was extremely soft and comfortable and only a single candle was lit, I was too afraid to close my eyes in fear of going back. It seemed every time I closed my eyes or something, I get sent back to that place… I never did figure out what that last memory was. I never remembered anything like that… I just remember the white room…

I mean, I used to count the days, trying to keep track of my age, but maybe I am wrong? I guess with all the white, it could be possible I was taken from my room and put in that room. But I guess I just don't understand what he was doing to me…

I will admit that I was curious to see what would happen when you pushed that button, but then again… Maybe I am not supposed to remember it for a reason.

So, I did end up falling asleep, but I woke up fairly early. I glanced over at Reala who was passed out on his bed, his chest would rise and fall with every single breath he took. I wonder why he was not tired even after carrying me around for over half the day…

I got up and left the room, down the hall, and back downstairs, the way I remembered we came in. No one was downstairs… I must be up really early. So, I walked outside to see the sun had just risen as was barely even noticeable. Everything was a shade of orange, gold and it was a bit cold out because of it.

There were many buildings, but since it only looked as if three or four of them were being used, it was pretty run down. It was close to being in the same state as the outskirts of Warthford where me and Reala were hiding out for that one night. It was even more depressing than the city setting, to be honest…

I wonder if anyone else is awake… I'm a little hungry… I wonder if there is an apple tree nearby or… Or what if there are other trees that grow different types of foods? I still like apples, but maybe something new would be nice for a change.

The street was pretty short, there were only about 8 or 9 buildings on the entire street anyways… The street instead was made up of little pebbles in a white color, but it faded into the dirt path after passing the town in both directions. Behind the buildings was all grass and then patches of trees spread out over the area. So, I wandered past the buildings on one side of the street where I found just what I was looking for.

Not only where there apple trees, but other trees with different types of foods growing from them! I ran up and grabbed the red apple I am most familiar with. After biting into it, savoring the flavor, I looked at the other trees that were nearby. The foods growing from them were in many different colors and shapes.

I started to pick different ones, some large, perfectly round, some with bumps on the skin, others on green, orange, red and a few other colors. I picked one of each while I ate the apple to the core again, then dropping it on the ground when finished.

"Do you like fruits?" A voice made me jump, causing me to drop everything in my hands. I turn around to see one of the men I had met yesterday. If I recall, his name is Theodore. He had dark orange, fluffy hair and big green eyes. He was almost as tall as Reala, but not as large as him, he is much more skinny, but not too much. He held a book under his arm as he grins at me, who just stood there in shock.

"Oh, sorry… I didn't mean to scare you…" He looks down at the ground, his pale face turning in a bit red in shame.  
I took a few steps back thinking, I'm probably intruding.

He looked back up to see me backing away slowly and stuck out his hand to me. "No, don't go!" He seemed a bit sad and I stopped in my tracks.

It was silent for a few moments as he seemed in a bit of a panic, trying to think of something to say.  
"You can be here, its fine… This is my garden…" He looks back down.

I glanced over at the fruit a few times.

"Oh, do you want these? You can have them, its not like I was going to eat them anyways…" He got down on one knee and picked up all the fruits I had dropped and slowly walked back to me.

As he handed them back to me, I mumble, "Thank you…" As I get a grip on everything.

"You're welcome!" He smiles, suddenly "Uh… Do you have a name?"

"Oh… Not necessarily…" I look down, getting tired of the whole debate. I didn't really care at this point anyways.

"Huh? What do you mean? Don't you have a name?" He tilts his head.

"... No…" I admit silently and look away.

"Oh… Well, I can give you a name…" He gives a hopeful grin. "I read a lot so, I have come across many names…" He glanced at the book under his arm. "Hm…" He studied me slowly.

He got kind of close and I started to back up until I only realized he was adjusting the flower crown I still had on my head. I had actually forget I had it this whole time. "I see you like flowers… And you have hazel eyes…" He looked closely at my face.

As he was as close as he was, I lift my hands up and touch the strange things that sat on his noise and in front of his eyes. I noticed when we first met, but I never asked.

"And you also like my glasses apparently…" He grins as he allows me to slid them off his nose and from behind his ears. I look at the shape and the glass, trying to understand how it worked without him telling me.

"Not too many people wear them, so its okay if you don't know what they are. Not many people do… Here…" He takes them gently from my hands and puts them on my face. The world around me suddenly got larger in size. I was much closer to the ground then before…

"Haha…" He chuckles under his breath. "Everyone has that reaction too." He takes them back and put them back on his own face. "Petal…" He mutters as he looks down at me.

"Hm?" I look back up at him.

"You are very small and tiny. Very fragile and delicate, like the petal of a flower… It's kind of lame, but…" He shrugs.

"Pet-al…" I repeat slowly and look down at the fruits in my arms.

"You like lime too? I thought I was the only one…" He picks up the small green fruit that was apparently, a lime. "I usually squeeze my orange juice in the morning. But, don't worry, I don't put lime in there too." He grins.

"I've tried to make blueberry juice, which ended horribly… I don't actually eat the grapefruit. John and Mary's son down at the inn likes to sprinkle sugar on it from time to time. It's just too sour for me, even with some sugar.

"I really want to grow grapes but, I'm a little scared they might die. I cross-breed that cherry tree, which took me a very long time. And then there is the plum and peach tree, which are my favorite. Sometimes I try and grow new trees, but I like the things I have now. So, whats you're favorite?" He turns and grins down at me.

I was still trying to process everything he had just said. After a few moments, I remembered his question and quickly prepared my response. "Apples…" I look down at the fruits that I was changing my mind about.

"Have you ever had apples with caramel? I like to put nuts on it and a little salt."

"Uh… No…"

"Well, if you get the chance, you should try it." He points.

"Is this all you eat?" I managed a full sentence.

"Yeah, pretty much…" He grins and nods. "I eat meat sometimes, but I am not good at hunting… I accidentally shot myself in the arm. It only grazed skin but, I won't be trying again anytime soon…" He rolls up his white sleeve to show me a large scar.

"I have pretty good shooting accuracy, but I guess I couldn't bring myself to shoot a little rabbit…" He rolls the sleeve back down.

It was silent again as I thought about what to do with all these fruits. "Hey, uh…" Theodore adjusted his glasses."Do you… Would you like to go see my library? It's right over there… You don't have to… But…" His cheeks turned red, kind of like the time I hit Jackle in the face with the baton.

"No, nevermind. People tend to think its pretty boring. I don't want to bore you, you looked pretty lost when I was talking about fruits… I'll just leave you alone now, heh…" He rubs the back of his neck, his face turning even more red as he started to walk away.

"I wasn't bored…" I speak up as he walked away. "I… I actually didn't know that much about…" I think for the word quickly, trying to not leave such a long pause. "Fruits."

"Wait- what, really?" He turns back in surprise, his green eyes wide.  
I nod slowly. "I'm a little nervous to eat it all now…" I look down.

"Oh, well… I could, you know, help you… eat them…" He ends slowly, as if he could not place the words correctly.

"Okay." I grin up at him.

His face once again, turned red and he grins back. "Uh… Follow me…" He turns and starts to walk away, me following in foot.

* * *

"Alright, we need to talk…" Reala walks right into the room NiGHTS was staying in. He threw Jackle into the room and closed the door.

"What? I'm still sleep!" NiGHTS complained, her blond hair all over the place.

"Yeah man, I was dreaming! Do you know how rare that is?!" Jackle glares back up at Reala.

"Listen!" Reala yells a little to get them to stop talking. "Okay… We might have a problem…" He sighs.

"What do you mean?" Jackle's expression softens as he sees Reala in stress.

"Master… Not only have I been away from him for over 6 human months, but you two have also been gone a long time too…" He looks down.

"So? Why would he care if I were gone? And its not like Jackle was that important…" NiGHTS shrugs.

"Hey!"

"But, don't you think it is strange we have seen no sign or not heard from him in a while…?" Reala shrugs.

"Look, I think you are stressing a bit too much. He probably does not care…" Jackle shrugs.

"Yeah, and why would we see a sign of him? I thought that he can't have any affects on the human world…" NiGHTS ends her sentence slowly, trying to think.

"But, think about it! He was your master once too! And even when you stopped following him, you still saw! You saw all the things he did! So, when his leading general, one of his best nightmarens, and a traitor he wants back just disappears from the night dimension, you still think he will be 'fine with it'?" Reala glares to make his point.

The room fell silent until Reala glanced down at Jackle, who was staring up at Reala with his mouth gaping open in the form of a smile and wide eyes that looked upon him.

"What?!" Reala steps back in a bit of discomfort.

"Am I really one of his best?!"

"Wizemen _might _have said it, not me!" Reala backs away a little more.

Then, NiGHTS stood up. "It's not my problem right now. When Wizemen comes, he comes. I don't know about you two, but I will stand and fight." NiGHTS then makes her way to the door.

* * *

**_I have gathered myself... Anyways, what did ya think? You like it? Hate it? Be honest so I can get along to chapter 11! _**

**_Story time! Gather 'round children, let me tell you all something. I was thinking about ending this soon. That was until I wrote that last part, putting in actual future plot, finally. But, I'm deciding I'm going to keep going. I don't want to drag you guys along, so its not gonna be like 30 chapters or anything like that but, 10 is a good start. _**

**_Advertising! Yeah, so... Do you guys like my writing? If so, DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT read the other story I have posted on my page! I'm going to delete it soon cause I wrote it a while ago and my writing has improved and its just something I have no feelings left for. I am acutely telling you guys if you like my writing, I am soon writing a story for Fictionpress... Just sayin... _**

**_So, review, cause ya know I love it when ya feed me! Or not... I actually get super nervous when people review. I am afraid of da haters coming along, which they have not, but still... Feed me!_**


	11. Cherry: Cueing Reala's Evil Laugh

_**Hey, guys, I'm really sorry about how long this one is. It is about half the size of what they usually are but I wanted to give you guys a little Chrismas gift. The gift... OF SUSPENSE! Haha, just read and find out. **_

* * *

"Sorry about the mess!" Theodore ran in ahead of me and quickly started to grab things and hide them away from my sight.

"Wow…" I look up to see cases that were filled with books up to the ceiling. There was a second floor platform that ran along the walls and even then, there were ladders that went all the way to the top of the shelves. Everything was brown and a little grey looking from the dust and the light made it even worse to look at everything.

He was dusting the surface of things off with his sleeve as quickly as he possibly could. I dug into my pocket and found a cloth that was about twice the size of my hand. When I first got these clothes this was already inside of one of the pockets.

I walked over to him and tapped him on the shoulder lightly. He turns his head back to look down at me and noticed my small gesture. He took the cloth gently and and looked at it.

"What is this for?" He asks softly.

"Your shirt is getting dirty. You can use this… I don't really need it…" I shrug.

"I have more than one shirt, you know…" He grins as he took the cloth and used that instead of his sleeve.

"Well, yes, but it seems kind of pointless to do it that way… At least keep clean well cleaning…"

"Yeah… Thanks…" His face got red again.

"Are you okay?" I finally ask.

"What?" He looked surprised.

"Your face has been getting red since the last chapter. Are you alright?" I point.

"Ah! No! I mean, yes! I'm fine!" His face got even more red as he turned away in a hurry.

"Oh… Okay…" I follow him into the strange place.

"So… This is what is left of the library! But, of course, you already know that! What am I saying?!" He awkwardly fumbled about.

"Uh, yeah…" I nod slightly.

"So, here is the history." He points to a certain area. "And that is all non- fiction." He points in a different direction. "And the mystery. Those are my favorite…" He whispers to me with a grin. "And, we have science, poetry, romance, and fantasy, if you are into that…"

"There are a lot of books for each section…"

"Yeah, so it can be hard to get bored when you find what you like and don't like. And, I have read every book in this place. I'm always looking to get more… So, may you happen to come across some books…" He hints.

"Would you like me to search for books and bring them back to you?" I ask.

"Well, I mean, if you happen to come across some or are not doing anything… Now, keep in mind, I would not want you to steal them… necessarily…" He adds in silently. "Not that you would steal them or anything! Haha…" He nervously chuckled, his face getting red again.

"You are doing it again? Are you sure you are okay?" I get closer to him, extending my hand up and touch his face lightly.

And… his face got even more red. I've never seen someone do that before… Maybe its an extreme emotion? Or perhaps its some simple illness? He seems okay otherwise…

"Do you have any books on the human body?" I ask, my hand still on his face.

"Oh, yes… But, if you are trying to figure out what is wrong with me, as you keep saying, you would not find it in any books in the science section here…"

"Maybe I just want to study the human body, Theodore…" I look looked over the profile of his face and then his green eyes that never looked away from me.

"You know… Everyone calls me Theo… You don't have to call me by my full name. It sounds kind of dorky…" He closed his eyes.

"Dorky?" I tilt my head. "It sounds fine to me. Its just a name…"

"Dorky… Meaning boring, uninteresting, strange…" He looked away, ashamed.

"Well, I will think of a new name for you well I am reading about the human body and such…"

"Follow me…" He pulls back from my hand, his face going back to its pale color. Of course, not as pale as Reala…

Speaking of which, I have not heard from him all day… Which is strange since he is always out to protect me. I wonder if they are doing something… Or maybe he is still sleeping… Or, he could have stopped caring at this point, which I am fine with since the whole 'apple incident'.

Theodore took me up stairs and along the wall to where it was labeled 'science' on a sign that was covered in dust. "There should be another sign down there that says 'mystery' which is where this ends… Just call for me if you need anything…" He hands me an orange and walks away.

"Idiot!" He mumbles to himself as he walked down the stairs on the other side of the library, hitting himself slightly. I could tell even from here that his face was red…

I hope he is not talking about me… But, I got to searching, scanning the shelves for something that caught my eye. The one thing I could stand about that facility they held me in was that the one nurse would read to me. She didn't do it too often, but every few days, she'd come in with books in her arms and read to me, with me and even let me read for myself. So, I do know how to read, thanks to her…

Her… I never learned her name… The last thing I remember was her face that was filled with fear and confusion when I was escaping. Even if she was armed and ready to hurt me, I don't think I could have brought myself to hit her over the head with that metal rod. Thats why I prayed she would not have been around, just in case Reala decided to take matters into his own hands and do it himself.

It was hard to tell the time in here, usually I can tell by the sun, but there are no windows in here. It was not until Reala came bursting through the doors to see me and Theodore eating fruit and surrounded by books at one of the tables.

"Oh, for the love of Wizeman, this is where you have been all day?!" He rushed in and over to the other end of the table.

"Sorry, Reala… I just…" I stare down at the new book I was reading about the universe.

He sighed. "Its fine… Who is this? Oh, you're that one guy from the other day…" He looks at Theodore with uncertainty. Then, he turned back to me. "Listen, we are going to stay here longer. Me and the others are doing some... work… So, do as you wish."

"Really? Did you just tell me to do what I want?" I stare at him, not believing a word he was saying.

"Yes… Unless, you want me to rethink those words…"

"No! No! I understand! Thank you, Reala!" I grin widely.

"I want you back at the inn an hour after sun down. And you, huma- I mean, whatever your name is, walk her back for me, okay?" He points to Theodore.

"Uh, sure, I can do that…" Theodore shrugs.

"Good. I will see you later then." Reala then turns swiftly and walks for the door he left open, closing it behind him.

"Hey… Did that guy say… Wizeman?" He looks down at me.

"Uh…" I pause.

"... I'll be right back…" He turns around and walks to the back of the library and into a back room that was hidden by a cloth.

_I wonder what he is up to… _I stare at the curtain that stopped moving around after he passed it. Does he know something about all this? He said it as if it was familiar to him…

I slowly turned back to my book and kept reading. He eventually returned, looking unchanged. "Oh, do you want something to drink? I am such a horrible host!"

"Oh… Water would be nice…" But before I could finish, he had ran outside.

I then jumped to my feet and glanced at the back room. I quickly ran over there myself and pushed the curtain aside. It was a small room lit with only two candles on the wall. It had older looking books that looked like they were wet and could fall apart from being picked up.

There was an open book on the desk that was surrounded by piles of others. I walked up to it and saw the title of the chapter was '_The Night Dimension'_. I froze in place and reread the title over and over again. Wait… Reala is from…

As I went reading through the book, finding the word 'Wizmen' in multiple places, the curtain was thrown back, the light pouring in on my back, casting a large shadow over the book.

My heart started to pound and my sweaty hands let go of the pages. When I dared to turn back, Theodore was standing there with my glass of water…

"I see you have found the backroom…"

* * *

"Reala, why aren't you doing any of the work!" NiGHTS complains as her and Jackle were working on the tasks that Reala had ordered them to do.

"Its kind of like the good old days…" Jackle chuckles, remembering when NiGHTS used to still be on their side, doing small tasks around for master.

"Oh, shut up!" NiGHTS flashed Jackle a side glare.

"Because, I said so." Reala folded his arms over his chest, responding the NiGHTS earlier question.

"But, you aren't even watching the girl!" Jackle points out.

"You don't know that! And, if you stop complaining, you would have been done by now!" Reala grins down at the two.

"I have a question: How in the realm of dreams is this supposed to help us?" NiGHTS asks.

"This is the last time I am explaining this, so listen up! We know we are not exactly safe, Wizeman is watching over us. We are going to…" Reala then stopped himself and looked at his feet, a strange look crossing his face."What am I doing?" He whispers to himself.

"Betraying our master?"

"Saving a little girl?"

"No, shut it, the both of you! I just… Keep working…" He gritted his teeth and walked away, leaving them both to stare at each other in confusion.

_Am I really going to betray my master… my creator, to save this little girl? Is that even possible? Maybe what NiGHTS was trying to tell us when he rebelled was… _Reala looked up at the sky that was now filled with stars and a fading sun.

_Can I even go back now?_

* * *

"I'm glad you are able to respond to my calls. Unlike the others around here, you are not a coward. I should make you incharge of my military instead…"

"Yes, master…"

"I have a very, very large task for you. It is unlike any other task I have ever assigned. I need you to travel to the humans' realm and… 'collect' three of my creations for me. I am unable to do it myself, but you on the other hand _can_…"

"Yes, master…"

"Now… I would prefer all three of them back alive. _But_, if they resist or try and fight you, do not hesitate to end them or any human that might help resist with them. Take any weapon you like and be back soon. I know you will serve me well…"

"Yes master. I am grateful you have chosen me for such a job. I will not fail, unlike some servants around here, I am truly loyal to you…"

"Oh, but wait!"

"Yes master?"

"They should have a small, human girl with them. Bring back the girl alive and I shall reward you with eternal life in this realm. I know that you're life span was shortened due to… complications… but, I promise to restore it if you bring her back…"

"Master, may I ask you something?"

"Yes."

"Why do you want the girl?"

"If I have this girl and you leave them alive, they will have no choice then to be drawn back. After they come back or are willing to, I will capture them, then use the girl to drain her purity. Or, what is left of it. Not only will it benefit the state of nightmare, but it will benefit _your _lifespan…"

"Yes master, of course. I should have thought that…"

"Do not fail me now…"

"I will not… Master…"

* * *

**_OHHH, they are in trouble... Soo, I know it is lame and super short and all, but its going somewhere, I promise! I gave you guys like three suspense endings in one! Oh yeah! Hehe, I hope you liked the gift I gave you! Now, it will slowly kill you over time, until next YEAR (2015) when I post the 12th chapter to explain myself! *cue stereotypical evil witch laugh* No, scratch that- *cue Reala's evil laugh from NiGHTS JOD!* XD If you are wondering what that sounds like (or know what I mean and want to laugh again) I leave thee a link at the very bottom. _**

**_Any predictions you'd like to share? For those who know, I like to engage you in conversation if you review XD I remember I kept one of you hostage for like 30 messages back and forth. Any ideas? Anything you'd like to say? I mean... It is Christmas, after all... Come on, I gave you this chapter for Christmas so give me a review that says you love meh! *Puts on review fishing hat* _**

**_Oh yeah! Reala's laugh. I always laugh when listening to him laugh when I play the game. As well as Jackle's laugh from NiGHTS JID. I had trouble beating his level only because his boss fight was my favorite cause I try and look at all the childrens toys in the background and Jackle laughing and so am I... I need help... Maybe me and Jackle can share a padded cell. _**

**_Hm... Not sure if I liked Reala's voice actor or not as I rewatch this. I have mixed feelings about it. He played him well, but... meh, it might just be me... Here, its around minute 7. I don't think anyone has his laugh actually cut out into like an 8 second video. But still, you can rewatch the part where he drowns Will in that black portal and NiGHTS and Reala have good old sibling banter XD (That was my fav!)_**

**_ watch?v=Gxrv6b6TK6o_**


	12. Suffocating

_**Ohh, I'm so sorry guys! I've been busy at school with my end of the term projects and upcoming tests. My finals are not for another week, so I posted this beforehand so it would not take me longer to get done. The Christmas gift I gave you all was super lame. But, this one is longer and all, so please enjoy!**_

* * *

I was speechless… Is there a word to describe unmovable? Well, I couldn't move, couldn't blink, couldn't breath… He was still standing where the curtain was, I couldn't see his face, it was very dim and dark. All I could see was his tall, slim silhouette.

"I see you found the back room!" He grinned.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..." Well, that would be a lie because I _did _mean to wonder in.

"No, I was going to show you!" He walked for me, stilling smiling. "The man before me, my mentor, was studying these old texts he found before he built this place. After he passed, I decided I'll try my best to finish his work." He stood near me as he looked down at the open book.

"Work?" I ask silently, still trying to calm my beating heart. I was for sure he was going to attack me! I guess I had it coming, snooping around where I really shouldn't have been…

"Yeah! See, he wanted to figure out how dreams work. You know when you sleep and you dream and you usually either can't remember, or you can, but its really fuzzy and distant? And why you might dream about certain things?

"Well, this book he found seems to have a lot of information on all of that. You see, this man who wrote the book remembers when he was young and had a strange dream that he could never forget. He has this idea that there is a whole other world somewhere where our dreams occur. Not particular in our heads' but in a different realm. He wrote about what happened when he was fully aware in this other world."

He stepped in front of me and flipped back a few pages then proceed to read aloud: "_As I get older, the dream is starting to fade away. But, I remember meeting a strange creature. It was dressed in all purple and wore an outfit much suited of a jester. It had a feminine voice, a strange accent, so it could talk quite well. But, it was always referred to as a 'he' or Knights… Nights, maybe? I never really learned which way his name was spelled by I don't think it really mattered. _

"_But, back to my dream, there were different doors that lead to different memories. All of them were good ones, at least… But, there were stranger creatures then Nights who roamed them. He told me they were nightmarens and they were destroying my dreams. I suppose that is how I ended up there. I was having a simple dream, I can't remember about what, until these monsters came out of nowhere and attacked me. That is when I ended up at the dream gates. So, me and Nights worked together and be rid of them and collect my Idyea. _

"_But, after we cleaned out all the nightmarens in one of the dreams, I'd have to face my worst nightmares every time. They were not that bad since I was able to defeat them all. Except my __last_ _one was not all that victorious. My biggest fear was death. Nights told me he needed my help to defeat someone- or thing that could end everything. He never explained until I saw __it__. _

"_He was too strong for me and I never did defeat him. After he took one of his six hands and threw me aside, I woke up, back where I fell asleep in my room. I never saw Nights again, but my dreams were a bit better, not as scary or frightening and I felt a bit better after that experience. But… I never did go back. I know it sounds silly, like a child's fairy tale, but I swear on my life that it was all real… It had to be…"_

He ended there and glanced up at me.

"Hey, wait… Isn't your friends name Nights?" He glanced at me.

"Petal?" I question his name for me.

"Yes, that is true… I suppose we all have strange names in the end, huh?" He skipped ahead a few pages. "But, this man basically dedicated his life to trying to unfold the mystery of dreams and what they mean. It really is interesting… But, my mentor had me collect all these other books on the idea when he was still around." He points to all the books that sat around us.

"What exactly are you trying to find?" I finally asked.

He paused for a moment, then set the book back on the table. "I'm not too sure. My mentor refused to tell me exactly, but I think I figured it out… I'm looking for the answers to this man's work. I think my mentor was friends or related to him, since he took it very personally. So, if I can clear up everything, his dream, the realm, this mysterious purple jester, and nightmares in general, I can make sure this was all for nothing. The question being: Is it just our minds playing tricks or is it really more…"

"So, I suppose you take it personally as well…" I look down.

"Yeah, my mentor was like my father. And, I don't want all his work and studying to die with him, if it really meant something…" He nods slowly as it became silent.

"But, after reading multiple books, I found that one thing is for sure. See this?" He flipped a few pages ahead to a strange drawing of a caped figure that had six large hands with eyes on them, but there was no head or arms or legs… I don't even think there was a body…

"This man… or _thing_ is what is known as Wizeman. There is not a whole lot of information on him but, he is said to be some sort of 'god' or leader. He is said to have created all nightmares and his goal is to conquer with fear… He is quite nerve racking, even I'll admit. These drawings look like a mental patient drew them…" He chuckled to himself.

He looked back down at me who was still silent. I didn't realize I was glaring, my eyes narrowed sharply, at him… I looked away from him, trying to control myself as I felt something tightening around me.

Tightening… _Tightening_… Suddenly, everything around me faded again. A panic flew over me as I remembered that flashback from the other day with the chair…

"T-Theodore?" I called out, but there was no one around me in the large, black open space… At least there is no padded chair…

I then close my eyes and clench my fists. _Don't be frightened, don't be fringed!_ I thought, feeling my hands get clammy and my body temperature starting to lower. _Don't let them scare you! _

But, as I opened my eyes to see the room was still black, a loud sound started to rattle and shake the space. Then, out of nowhere, four white walls started to come at me. Every way I turned, there was no escape. The walls came so close until they were pressed up against me. They were padded and soft… But, they were too soft and kept closing in on me, squeezing my body together.

Suddenly, I couldn't breath and everything started to get dark as I could no longer feel the floor under my feet and the walls were extending over head. No matter which way I pushed, pushing the wall in front of me away, the walls to my sides slammed into me. And, when I tried to push the walls at my sides away, the ones in front of me and behind me would crash into me, forcing me to let go of the other walls.

And, slowly, calmly, the walls took me in in one bite, swallowing me whole until there was nothing but darkness again.

* * *

"What did you do?! You imbecile! Why should I have _ever_ trusted you?!"

"Did you do something to her?!"

"Maybe she was just tired and fell asleep?"

"JACKLE!" Two angry voices said at once.

"OW! Don't hit me! I was just putting out a possibility!"

"_Shut up already_!"

One voice after another spoke in a fast pace, panicked voices above me.

"Geez, what kind of town doesn't have a doctor!?" Followed by the low mumble of, "Humans…" Said the voice in a disappointed tone.

"Just help me carry her!"

"Oh, come on! She is not that heavy! Look at her!"

"JACKLE!" The two voices yell again.

"OW! Okay, okay! I'm sorry, I'll help, just stop with the hitting!"

"You guys should probably not speak so loudly, she might have a head injury…" A low, quiet voice spoke.

"Oh, and I should listen to you, let alone believe you?"

"Reala, he was the one who was there when it happened!"

"Yeah, _the only one_. He could have done something to harm Sakura and we wouldn't know! So, you! Stay out of this! We have had enough help from _you_."

"Sakura?"

"That is her name!"

"Are we still on this?"

"Yes, because her name is not Sakura!"

"You know, she does not look like a Sakura…"

"Will you two be quiet! That is her name because _I. Said. So_!"

When I opened my eyes, a loud pitched screeching filled my head and all I saw was the distorted look of wood. I lifted my hand up to my face and rubbed my eyes, trying to get the room to stop lightly swaying.

Once the room stopped moving and the buzzing stopped, I was able to ask aloud, "Where am I?"

"Earth… Sadly…" Mumbled Reala as his face came into view over mine as he looked at me. "Are you okay? What did that _idiot_ do to you?" He glares slightly.

"What idiot?" I try moving my head around.

"Stay still… You hit your head severely. That orange haired simpleton, that is the idiot I am referring to. He claims that you seemed to be in some sort of trance and when he tried to touch your shoulder, you started to scream and panicking, then you passed out and hit your head on the corner of a table. You are still bleeding a little, but its gone down now…"

"What happened?" NiGHTS poked her head into my sights as well.

"Get back!" Reala pushed NiGHTS away. There then was a crashing sound and NiGHTS complaining in a muffled voice afterwards.

"I don't remember… We were talking about… These books and… Then, I was no where, but somewhere at the same time and it was cold and dark and then I couldn't breath and… white walls inclosing me… crushing me…"

"Oh…" Reala slowly averted his eyes away as he rubbed a painful spot somewhere on the back of my head. "You must be… having, uh…" Reala quickly tried to find an explanation. "It is probably… just… your mind… You know… playing tricks on you?"

"If you are going to lie to her, at least make it good," NiGHTS said from somewhere in the room.

"Will you…" Reala looked up and glared in NiGHT's direction.

Right before Reala and NiGHTS started to argue, there was light knocking at the door. I couldn't look up, but I heard the voice say, "A traveler has just came into the inn and-"

"Why are you telling this to us?" Reala asks as politely as he could, but it sounded no different than his usual attitude.

"B-because, they mentioned that they are a doctor. I thought you'd like a professional view, just to make sure she is okay…"

"Fine, fine, I don't care. He will just tell me her head is bleeding. But, you can still send him in here…" He looks back down towards me and slightly rolls his dark crystal blue eyes as the door was closed, signaling whomever was there was now gone.

A few minutes of silence passed as Reala cleaned the blood, applying pressure every now and then. And finally, the door was opened again and all I could hear was the sound of heavy boots hitting the wooden floor.

"Well, well… You must be the girl everyone is talking about…" A (for once) calming voice approached me.

A new man's face came into my view. His skin was slightly tanned, he had hazel eyes (just like my own) and long, brown hair that rested just past his shoulders. Reala, who was also still looking down at me, quickly glanced at the stranger with uncertain eyes and slowly looked back at me.

"So, can you tell me how you got such a large gash in the back of your head?" He asks as he slips off one of his silk white gloves and reaches over to the spot that was still throbbing.

"I fell…"

He chuckled under his breath before asking, "And what might you have fell on hard enough to cause so much skin to rip open?"

"A table corner…?" I almost ask, trying to remember what I was told had happened.

He asked me a few more questions, I would answer vaguely, he would laugh and smile and then ask the next question.

"Does it still hurt?"

"Can't you feel the throbbing?" I ask, almost in a serious way.

"Just adorable." He smiles as he takes his hand away that had a few drops of dry blood stained on his fingers.

"So?" Reala, who had waited very patiently, finally spoke.

"She quite possibly has a concussion." He wipes his hand clean of my blood.

"Quite possibly? Does she or does she not?!" Reala raised his voice, causing the throbbing to speed up slightly and causing myself to groan.

"Well, the symptoms might not take full effect for a few hours, maybe even days… I might be here for a few days anyways, so I can check up on her tomorrow, if you would like." He slipped his glove back on.

"Uhh… I feel like I might throw up…" I announced, just in case I might actually throw up right well they are talking… Which I sure hope won't happen…

"And that is another symptom. Just to be safe, don't move around too much and keep resting. It will take time to recover if you do have a concussion. So, take it easy…" He grins down at me again.

"Understood…" I felt like I had to nod my head 'yes', but I kept still as he told me.

"Good." His smile grew even wider. "My name is Marion, by the way." He mentioned before leaving the room, closing the door behind.

"Marion… That sounds like a female's name…" NiGHTS commented in the background and Reala nods in agreement.

* * *

"You know, I never did catch your name yesterday…" He points out before sitting down in the chair near the bed.

"Oh… Its Petal…" Wow, that felt really strange to say…

"You are just overflowing with sheer adorableness, if that is even a word."

Even though the others were not very welcoming of Marion, even being hostile towards him from time to time, I had become very fond of him. Maybe it was because I had to spend a lot of time with him or he was just very pleasant to be around but, he was very nice to me.

He would come in when everyone else was out and ask me questions of my head injury and perform small tests, mainly ones that relate to memory or my vision. Then, we would simply talk. I did not have much to talk about but, I did have much to learn about.

He would talk about medical things, how to treat certain injuries, plants that are nice to use, things like that. I simply listened and would ask questions every now and then. I was going to read a medical book when I was in the library, but I never did get the chance.

I'd ask Theodore to bring me some books, but Marion said that I should not read much of anything. And when I thought about it, I had not seen or heard from Theodore. Because my strange blackout occurred when I was with him, Reala probably told him to stay away from me. Even though he had nothing to do with this, since it happened before and nothing seems to really trigger it.

I even asked Marion about the blackout and what had happened well I was 'away'. He told me that it was most likely caused by some past event that traumatized me in some way. He said it was normal for a lot of people to go through new, scary experiences and think they never would get hurt emotionally. And, because of said event, I was somehow remaking a scary experience in my head to equal to what really happened and there are triggers that cause it, it rarely happens randomly.

But… You'd think that it would resemble what had really happened, right? The only thing about both blackouts was that they had that uncomforting white color surrounding me… But, the problem is that it is suggesting it had something to do with where I was before. I never had a bad experience there. The only bad experience was when Reala scared me half to death and when I hurt all those men when I escaped…

I wonder though… Is it trying to tell me something? Something I don't know? If it is, I wish it would be more specific on what it is trying to tell me or remind me of. Heh, that almost sounds like I am wishing for it to happen again or something… I really don't want it to happen again, it is confusing and scary… But, maybe I can put it together and figure out what is causing this exactly. Maybe then I can overcome it somehow…?

* * *

**_So? What did ya think? I got you, didn't I? Hehe, you guys thought he was gonna be made at her? Yeah, no. That's why I love cliffhangers. You think something might happen, but you are not really sure..._**

**_So, I really wanna say how sorry I am for posting a lot at the end of 2014 and then it kind of stopped for a bit. The reason why I have not been able to write sooner was because I'm working on this other story that is not meant for . And what that means is that I am starting from scratch with this new story/world/plot of mine and its going to take me a very, very long time to write. Its a personal project to get me to start writing my own stories. But, I love you guys sooo much, that I am going to keep writing this story as well as my other story at the same time. _**

**_So, please be patient (Sorry for telling you what to do) and hang in there for me! I'm starting new classes after this coming week and I'm writing this other story, so I won't be able to post so often. Now, don't think I won't post for like months or something. I will try and keep up to every other week? I can't promise anything right now, but please help me out here! If I am to not post for a while, please don't hesitate to message me about it, because chances are I completely forgot._**

**_I hope you guys are still liking this story though! I love writing it for you and getting all the love and support that keeps me going. It makes me wanna write another NiGHTS fic, which I am thinking about doing after I finish this story. No promises, but I'd love to write another NiGHTS story (may or may not be based off this one) if you guys really do like this. _**

**_So, I hope you guys are still reading (Yesss, even all this bold text) and are still loving it. Thank you so much for taking the time out of your life to read a story by a girl with __no__ life XD But really, it is great to write something I love, you love and I can improve from. Thanks everyone!_**


	13. Rehabilitating

A/N: I notice a lot of writers put "A/N" and that would make a lot more sense and probably help! So, I'm back! The reason its been a little over a month is because of new classes and finding the inspiration to write the best I can for you guys! Also, I kind of wanted to say that I started writing this story originally for Reala. The way this went was completely unintentional, but I like where it went. But, as I'm thinking about how to end this, I realized something. Not only do I really want to write a squeal story for this one (maybe a bit shorter story), but I also realized the purpose of why I wanted to add NiGHTS and Jackle. Once you are done reading this chapter, I'll leave another A/N at the bottom. Thanks for reading!

* * *

It was nice to be up and moving after days of laying on my back and only being able to sleep. Marion was there, helping me up, helping me balance and making sure I was okay.

"See! I told you she would be fine!" Marion chuckled.

Reala was standing behind Marion, ready to grab a hold of me as I was now on both my feet.

"There we go…" Marion grinned as I took a few steps on my own.

"I feel fine…" I mutter in surprise as I could balance perfectly. Seeing this, Marion let me go off on my own without his assistance.

But, Reala grabbed my arm as I walked past him.

"I can walk by myself…" I look up at him.

"Well, I won't take any chances of you hurting yourself again." He sounded annoyed when he answered, so I did not say anything.

"It wasn't her fault, you know…" Marion spoke up.

Reala sighed deeply. "Listen. At this point, I don't care whose fault it was. Right now, we can't afford anymore injuries. It will just show us down and its quite a nuisance."

"Well, you see, Petal can't control when she will faint like that. She has Post- Traumatic Stress Disorder. Do you know what that means?" Marion asks. "Its when someone experiences a life changing event or scary experience and can't get over it. Seeing that Petal has it, she will have frequent flashbacks, where she might act out or harm herself by accident. Its going to take time to help her…"

"Well, time is not something we have right now, so we will have to push that aside for now."

"I don't think you quite understand." Marion frowned and adjusted his glasses. "If this is not treated correctly and rushed or 'pushed aside', it could get worse."

"Worse?" I turn back to face him.

"Yes, very much. You think its bad now? Just wait. Well your friend here is 'pushing it aside' you-"

"Okay, you need to stop!" Reala points at Marion, stopping him as he was in mid sentence. "She is strong, she can handle herself and she does not need _you_ scaring her."

"Oh, and you are the medical professional here? Heed my warning; if you do not help her now, the long term effects can be… ugly…" Marion stands up.

"Reala, what did you mean by 'nuisance'?" I ask quietly, turning their attention away from each other.

"A nuisance? Its kind of like something that is irritating and a bother. 'Unnecessary' is a good word for it."

"That is what I thought…" I slipped my arm away from his and turned to the door.

As I was leaving, I heard, "Wow, you really are unfamiliar with woman, aren't you?" Said Marion before I closed the door.

…

"I've never done this kind of thing before… I mean… Does Reala even really know what he is doing? It sounds dangerous…" NiGHTS looked down as she leaned on the wooden post that held the roof of the inn up.

Her and Jackle had been outside all morning, standing right outside of the inn on the large deck that was covered from the roof sticking out.

"I thought you would die protecting all humans… Backing out already?" Jackle smirked.

"No, I mean it sounds dangerous overall. Not just to ourselves, but to any humans…" She closed her eyes in thought.

"look, I know Reala tends to… fail… But, he is never wrong about this kind of stuff. Besides, I would love to fly again… Reala was always better at planning, not necessarily _doing_. Heh, remember all the times when you handed Reala's butt to him? Hehe… I didn't hear about the first time you beat him up until later. I wish I was there to see it… Hehe…" Jackle kept chuckling under his breath.

"I don't necessarily enjoy doing it, you do realize…" NiGHTS averted her blue eyes away from Jackle.

"Oh, nothing beats good ol' sibling rivalry!" Jackle rubbed his hands together in excitement as his grin widened across his face.

"Well, its nice to see you going back to your old ways…" NiGHTS tries to smile.

As Jackle went on making jokes about some of the other Nightmarens NiGHTS defeated in past dreams of different visitors, someone pushed the door open from the inn and quickly walked past the two and headed towards the library.

"Hmm, she doesn't look too happy." Jackle commented as they watched her enter the doors of the library.

"She rarely does…" NiGHTS frowns.

"Rarely does what?" Jackle turned back to her.

"She rarely looks happy. She never really smiles or laughes… It's kind of sad." NiGHTS looked down.

"Yeah, she doesn't talk much either… So, did Reala ever actually tell you who she was?"

NiGHTS paused and then shook her head lightly. "No… Just that it was a part of a deal or something?" She shrugs, still digging around her head to try and find anything else he might have said.

"If he did say something, he said it a long time ago and, the author probably can't remember, which is fine. I don't blame her." Jackle shrugged.

"Can you not break the fourth wall, please?" NiGHTS tried to ask as politely as she could, hoping to not hear the sound something shattering somewhere in the distance and lighting striking down on the clear, sunny day.

_*Haha, I'll stop now._

"Well, maybe he did say something…" Jackle closed his eyes, trying to go back to when they first met the girl. "Just that he is helping her… I'm just sorry for the readers because of how lazy author has-"

"JACKLE!" NiGHTS scolded, hoping no one was around to hear. "You must be careful! You do realize what she could do to us, right!? I might fear her more than Wizeman in this place! So, please stop making jokes about her! She has had a rough go lately, so please, play nice." NiGHTS nervously glanced around, hoping the author had not heard.

_*Okay, all joking aside though_

"Alright… Sorry, sorry…" Jackle sighed. "But, as I was saying before author rudely interrupted us, I'd love to have my flight powers back! Maybe if I'm good to _you know who_," Jackle whispered. "I might get my cards back as well!" Jackle clapped his hands.

"Yeah, it would be helpful to get our powers back. But, we would have to be careful. If humans saw us flying, thinking we were humans as well, things might not end well…"

"Better than no powers at all…"

"You're right. But, still… I won't take any chances… You know, I wonder if Reala has ever let her fly with him." NiGHTS smirked to herself.

"Does Reala have that power?" Jackle looked up.

"Most likely. I think you might have it as well. But, I'm not sure, so don't go around dualizing with random humans, please." NiGHTS gave a look of concern as she imagined Jackle getting into that kind of mischief.

"Don't even worry about it. Why would I share _this _with anyone else?" Jackle posed dramatically.

"Haha, I think you have the wrong idea there…" NiGHTS chuckled as Jackle kept posing. "You know… I kind of miss you guys…" NiGHTS smiled to herself.

"You miss us? Really?" Jackle stopped posing in surprise.

"Well, yeah! Of course I do! What, did you think I disliked all of you? No, it was a personal reason that included Wizeman. I didn't hate any of you! Is that what you thought…?" She looked a little sad and disappointed.

"Yes, we did think that… You left and then next thing we know, Wizeman is obsessed with you, our orders always had you involved in them. You never said why exactly, but we weren't sure if it was us or…"

"No… No! Jackle, you and everyone else… You were my family… Why did I leave, you might be thinking… It was a little deeper than, 'what we are doing is wrong'. It was that realization of my existence and my purpose… I literally just woke up and…" NiGHTS stopped, her expression a bit troubled.

"It is strange, I'll give you that." Jackle continued for her. "Realizing you are just the phobia of a human child in another realm… Yes, it does make you think, maybe even rebel…" Jackle glanced at NiGHTS who still looked at the ground in distress.

"Or you are the puppet and the controller of your strings is blinded by his own wants and desires… I was able to cut my strings… But, I couldn't cut the strings of those who couldn't even look at their controller…"

"Well, you couldn't have done it, even if you wanted to."

"Yeah, but all those times I tried to… Reala thought I was… I thought I was helping when all I did was make it worse, if anything…"

"At least you were not a puppet who was left on the table…" Jackle smirked.

"At least? The easier the better. If you are labeled as _obsolete_ by Wizeman, he wouldn't care what you did… Ever notice how he never gives you orders anymore? Thats because once you fail him if you are a second or third class nightmaren, he won't ever use you again. He keeps those who were not completely destroyed around, like you…"

"Obsolete, huh?" Jackle got a smile as he glanced up, thinking about the word. "I like that. Its just perfect for us second class who don't do much anymore…"

"Jackle, I've been meaning to ask… I know you and anyone else who is still there knows that you can leave if you wanted, I know of those who have… But, you all stay… _why_?" NiGHTS turned to face the ginger.

"Just about every day, that crosses my mind, you know? I guess I stay because for me, leaving doesn't really look like an option… I'm no use to master, what use am I at all. We consider ourselves lucky he has not thrown us away -_yet_. Why do you think I came with you?

"At first, I thought I could somehow double cross you. I'm not sure how and I was extremely hesitant when you repeatedly threatened me. So, I didn't. I thought if I could somehow get rid of you for Wizeman, he would be pleased with me and make use of me… I even thought he would move me up to first class, you know? I could have a lick of being the favorite, but…

"Reala never lets any of us be up where he is… He knows he is lucky and fortunate to be in that position and he has never let go of it. All my life, from the day I was created, he was always there… At first it was funny, watching him scurry around, doing all of masters bidding, but… As the years went on, I realized… Reala doesn't want to be thrown away either. You wanted a purpose and you decide to rebel, he wanted a purpose, so he serves to the best of his abilities.

"You two really aren't all that different after all…" Jackle chuckled slightly at the thought of them getting along.

"He's my brother, of course we aren't… But, it is my fault he is the way he is… Ever since we were created, at the same time, together, Wizeman loved me more. Maybe love is the wrong term, but he favored me more. He liked Reala, but he focused on me, like I had to potential he was looking for… And, now that I'm out of the way, Reala can be favored…" NiGHTS closed her eyes, seeing back to her youth, or when she was first created.

"Its not your fault. Wizeman shouldn't pick favourites. He's been around so long, I feel like he'd know this…" Jackle shook his head. "Yet, Reala still takes everything he gets from master… All the insults and… I know for a fact Reala is scared of him… He must be strong to go before him all the time he does and not show a single sign of weakness at all… Thats one thing I always admired Reala for."

Then, both NiGHTS and Jackle were silently smiling as they went back to past memories, both the good and bad. Realizing things they might have not seen before.

Thats when Reala came out of the inn and turned to look at the two who were sitting there, smiling to themselves in silence.

"What are you two doing?" Reala raised an eyebrow as he slowly approached them.

They both snapped out of their trance and straightened up as he came near. "Nothing…" NiGHTs grinned again.

"Nothing at all…" Jackle and NiGHTS smiled at each other and back at Reala.

"Alright… Can you two stop smiling at me like that? Its creeping me out… All this happiness is a bit overwhelming…" Reala narrowed his eyes, inspecting the both of them.

"Sorry!" They both respond in unison, wiping the smiles off their faces as well.

"I don't want to see either of you causing unneeded mischief around here. Unless, you would like to face my wrath. But, you can ask for that anytime you would like."

"No, thats okay. But, thanks for offering." NiGHTS grinned.

"If its the girl you are looking for, she went into the library." Jackle pointed.

"Thank you." Reala turned away from them and proceeded to the library.

"Wow… Did he just say… _Thank you_?!" Jackle watched as Reala closed the large door behind him and disappeared inside the crumbling building.

"I think he did…" NiGHTS nodded.

…

"Maybe you shouldn't be here…" He glanced over his shoulder at the door, as if expecting someone to burst through them.

"Do you not want me here?" I ask as I pulled a book from the shelf.

"Well, no, you can be here, but-"

"Than I will be here."

"Yeah, but…"

"Don't worry. I'll handle it if he comes in, okay?" I grin at him from over my shoulder and turned back to keep looking at the books.

"Alright… So… How are you? Is your head okay?" He asked silently.

"Yes, its fine, thanks for asking…" I rub the spot that was still bandaged up.

"Well, let me know when you aren't okay… I mean, if you don't feel well…" He then walked away, leaving me to my searching.

Thinking back to earlier today, I'm sure Reala didn't mean anything by it… I mean, it is troublesome when there is something slowing everyone else down. I shouldn't take it too close to heart. Because that would do no good either. And I'm sure he is stressed with the situation and everything that is going on and he really does want me to get better, but its hard to do all these things at once…

After I collected a large stack of different books, some I was purposely looking for, others that had caught my eyes, and set them all down on the same table I sat at a few days ago.

As I was reading more on medical information, one of the two grand doors was burst through and slammed behind whoever had entered. Theodore jumped in surprise and tried to stay calm and he looked away from Reala, whom was entering the room, heading right for me.

"You ran off." He announced as he stood at the opposite end of the table I sat at.

I slowly looked up after finishing the sentence I was on and point down on the paper to remember my place. "Yes. I was upset." I respond just as dry and plain like.

"I didn't mean to offend you."

"And I didn't mean to get mad. I understand that everything is really confusing and stressful right now for you, but I can't help whatever is going on inside my head. I would love to control it, but I can't… So, if staying calm and having peace of mind is what I can do to try and cure myself, I'll do just that. And reading seems to help…"

"You seem to be handling it pretty well." He crossed his arms over his chest with an impressed smirk.

"Well, if I ever want to be 'normal' or somewhere close to it, I need to figure myself out first. Right?" I smile back.

"Right." He nods. He then eyed the book I was reading and then sat down in the chair near him and looked over the books I had. "A lot of medical books…" He mutters to himself.

"Its interesting. Did you know that there are these wild flowers that are common around here that could kill you from their poison? The only known cure is a mixture of different tree saps and these special types of berries that are commonly found near rivers and small lakes. Only three types of tree saps are needed, which are-" I went off my memory, going on telling him everything I had been reading about.

"Wow, you really are a fast learner…" Reala just looked at me, not really knowing what to say.

"I guess. I want to learn the medical stuff, maybe I can help people. Than, I can move onto science or some sort of human study or animals. But, I like the medical area so far." I grin and go back to the spot in my book I was reading at.

Reala glanced through the different books I had picked up as I was finishing the book I was on. As the day wore on, NiGHTS and Jackle wandered in. I glanced around to see Theodore reading one of his crime-fiction books and drinking tea, paying no mind to them as they walked over to my table.

NiGHTS sat near me and looked over my shoulder at the book I was reading. Reala growled under his breath, causing her to sit back and keep her distance from me. But, I really didn't mind her looking over my shoulder.

And Jackle picked up a random book that I had randomly picked up as well. "Hey, what is 'Norse Mythology'?" He asks me as he skimmed the book cover.

"Why don't you read it and find out for yourself? Its kind of hard to explain." I grin to him and go back to my book.

After a while of NiGHTS braiding parts of her hair, Reala looking at more of my books, and me starting up on a new medical book, Jackle got this strange grin on his face well reading that book I let him read.

"What are you smiling about?" Reala glared at him in confusion.

"This book is funny!" He chuckled and kept a toothy grin well he went on reading.

"Are you still reading that mythology book?" NiGHTS asked.

"Yes! This is so good! Its like a never ending drama about gods! Especially this one guy who is running around, tricking people into doing things! Hahaha! I like his style!" Jackle laughed.

"Maybe you should take note." Reala commented sarcastically as he went back to reading.

"What is he doing?" NiGHTS asked curiously.

"Haha, well, so far, he tricked this one blind guy into killing his brother with a piece of mistletoe! OH MAN! That was great! Haha! And, and! And he just cut off some woman's hair!" Jackle went on, listing different things from the story.

"He and you could be brothers!" Reala didn't even have to look up this time when he made a sarcastic remark. But, they never really affected Jackle's good mood much.

"Alright, alright, how about, 'Jackle, the mischief maker'! I love it!" Jackle had been trying to make a title for himself with the inspiration from this book.

"I'm not so sure if The God of Mischief would much appreciate that," Theodore said as he was putting away books I was done with on the shelf behind us.

"Oh, sure he would! I mean, have you seen the look on this man's face in these pictures?! He can take a joke, I'm sure of it!"

"Sure, okay. Well, if you ever meet him, I'd love to know what he'd think of you. I'm sure he would have a… Very _interesting_ opinion." Theodore smiled to himself.

"Alright! I just have to find where this large, mystical looking tree is and he should be somewhere in it!" Jackle held up the book for Theodore to see as he pointed to the picture.

"You mean Yggdrasil?" Theodore adjusted his glasses to look at the page. "Well, according to Norse, Midgard is located right about here," He pointed to the middle of the tree. "Which is only a step or two below Asgard, which is where the gods would be. I wish you luck on your journey there." Theodore gave Jackle an uneasy look.

"Oh, I'm totally going there!" Jackle got an excited look on his face.

"Right…" Theodore walked away, leaving Jackle with the book.

* * *

A/N: I hope you know what Norse God I am referring to. He is bae to me 3

Anyways, back to that first authors note~ So, as I was writing that conversation between NiGHTS and Jackle, I realized how much I wanted to write about the bound between the Nightmarens and how they interact with each other and the system back in Nightmare. So, that would be what the sequel to this story would be about and I know exactly how I could connect it. I felt really passionate about that and writing it really made me open my eyes to the possibilities to that. So, stay tuned!

Thank you guys so much for reading this far! BTW, sorry for breaking the fourth wall, I blame the same Norse God for making me do it! And also, I'm fine, I haven't had a rough go of it lately. I just made her say that, thinking of how the characters would look at the past events and link them to lazy author.

I hope you liked this and can wait for me on that next chapter! I love you all! (Not as much as bae up there). No, haha, really though. Thanks for the comments/reviews and support over this past... year? Anyways, thanks again!


	14. Realization

A/N: I'm back! Can't you believe it?! Man, its been a _really_ long time... I've been working on my other story (which is far from done) and I almost forgot about this! Well, have no fear! I almost had a feeling of abandoning this story but I know a lot of you guys still want me to finish it, so I plan on doing just that! So, I bet you'd like to get back to where you last left off? I won't stop you with a long author's note, go on ahead~

* * *

"What is it? Why are you panicking?" Jackle asked NiGHTS as she paced in a straight line.

"OWL! Owl just sent me a message!" NiGHTS turned to face Jackle with wild eyes, as if she hadn't slept in days.

"Wow, calm down! What did he tell you?" Jackle took a step back.

"I had a dream last night! Can you believe it?! Anyways, I was at the Dream Gates when Owl flew up to me panicking and telling me that Wizeman sent out a spy to Earth! And, apparently, the spy was sent not too long after we arrived here!"

"Okay, wait, if this was a dream you had, how do you know if it was real or not?" Jackle raised an eyebrow.

"Are you real? Am I real? Does it matter anymore?!" NiGHTS threw her hands atop her head as she tried to calm her beating heart. "Wizman knows how to get to us! What will he do?! How will we know what he will do?! And what if the spy is already here?!"

"Relax!" Jackle grabbed NiGHTS by her shoulders and shook her gently. "So what if he has a spy? If the spy were a true spy, he'd have to blend in, right? So, he'd be human, like us. Meaning, he has no real power, like us. And, his job is to spy. We just have to be more discreet!" Jackle points with a smirk.

"Right…" NiGHTS took deep breaths. "Right, you are right! Right…" She kept repeating. "I was just worried about…?" She paused, scratching her head in confusion. "So, I guess she still doesn't have name?"

"I think its Petal."

"Aw, cute!" NiGHTS smiled, thinking back to the day they had met and made flower crowns together. "Well, I was just worried about Petal. Who knows what Wizman could do… or would do…"

"Hm, I know you like human children, but you seem too caring about them…" Jackle folded his arms over his chest.

"Well, of course I care! I love all of the ones I've met and helped. They are my friends, and just knowing I've helped them, even if it was just for a short time, it gives me a sense of peace… But, if something bad were to happen…" NiGHTS trailed off, not wanting to bring herself to finish.

* * *

It was so warm out. I could sit out here for hours, letting the rays hit my skin and never get sick of it. I haven't been cold in so long… I can't even remember when it was I was still in that room, sitting in bed, under the vent that blew cold air straight down onto me. I could understand how this heat could be uncomfortable for some, but not for me, never.

I was sitting in the large space behind the inn, in a bed of flowers, somewhat near the large lake. I was tieing flowers together, not necessary making crowns, but just making a long chain of them.

Late last night, when I couldn't sleep, I was walking around the hallway upstairs when I passed an open window and heard all sorts of strange noises from the lake. When I went outside to investigate today, the sounds were not as loud and there was less of them. So, maybe if I stay quiet and out here for a long time, I can see the creature that is making the noise.

But, my peace was soon disturbed when yet another strange noise can flying out of no where and running past me at a fast speed. I had tried to jump to my feet, but was only able to move away when it ran past me. I followed the sound to find a strange brown thing darting across the open field and into the lake.

"No, Grizzly, stop!" I heard another voice come running up behind me and to the waters edge.

The thing seemed to ignore them and was swimming further into the water. I then slowly sat up, the long chain of flowers fell from my lap and was lost in the large bed of colors I was sitting in.

"Marion? What's going on?" I turned to see the familiar face looking in a panic out towards the water.

"My dog! Grizzly!" He points out to the water where the strange creature was splashing about. He looked extremely uneasy…

"D-og?" I repeat slowly to myself.

"Yes! He shouldn't be in the water! I myself have a horrible fear of water and I just can't step foot too close… Its shallow waters, but still…" He took a step back, looking at the water's line.

"Well, if it is not deep…" I shrug and take off my boots. Once I neatly set them down next to me, I started to slowly walk into the water.

It felt strange at first, the water between my toes and my pants getting wet, but I did not mind. I slowly approached the animal splashing about and looked back at Marion.

"Just… Just slowly hold out your hand. He won't bite." He told me.

Well, I did not think he could even bite, which made me even more nervous. But, I still held out my hand, catching the creatures attention from its playing. It approached me slowly and sniffed my hand. After the short investigation, he started to lick my wrist.

"Come here, Grizzly!" Marion called from the shore, in which Grizzly perked up and ran past me and back to Marion. "Oh, good boy!" He rubbed the animals head. Then, he turned his attention to me. "You might want to get out of there. You're clothes…" He points.

"The water is not that high." And, it was true. The water was slightly below my knees. As I looked back at the large pond, I noticed something floating atop the water a few steps farther in.

"Oh, Grizzly, where is your collar?" Marion asked as he looked at the rope in his hand.

"Is it this shiny, round thing?" I point.

"Yes, do you mind fetching it for me?" He smiled as he asked.

"Sure, its just a few feet…"

Or so I thought. As I approached it, taking slow steps, the wet dirt underneath me started to soften and I started to sink. At first, I thought this was normal, seeing as this happened every few steps I took. But, this was different.

As I was bending over to pick it up, the dirt started to fall apart under me, and fast. Before I had time to react, I felt myself falling and then I was surrounded in water. At first, I thought I'd be fine until I felt myself still sinking and nothing was there to catch me at the bottom.

I started to kick and fling my arms around, trying to keep my head above the surface as water kept going down my throat. I would sink below the surface for a few seconds, but I'd find my way back up to the top and see the light of the sun.

The entire time I was doing this, my chest was tightening and my heart was beating to fast for me to control. All I could think is who would save me this time… Would Marion really come and save me? What about Reala? Since I can't even save myself it seems…

This next time I came back up, I was no longer outside in the sunlight. I came back up to darkness this time. I knew this could only mean nothing good, seeing as every time this happened… I know I shouldn't be afraid because this isn't real anymore. But, for some reason, I can't tell myself that.

Even though I know it isn't really real, I am still fearing for my own life… I could feel their presence around me, but I could see no one… I was still flailing my arms about until they were grabbed by someones tight grip. I just saw the arms and hands, all white. They held me for a moment before forcing me back down into the water, which seemed colder then I remembered…

When I came back up, more water was being poured down on me. Now, I was really panicking, because my last two encounters here, I could breath…But now, I really can't breath anymore! I wanted to cry, I was so scared, it was so painful… But, I didn't. Even when I tried, I couldn't make a sound, like I just wouldn't allow myself…

After forcing me down and back up so many times, all I had lost count of, I finally came back up on my own to feel the rays of warmth hit my face again. I wanted to try and feel like I would be okay, but I was still in the water and there was still a grip on me…

When I opened my eyes, I could feel the tears this time. I couldn't feel my hands anymore, the circulation was being cut off from whatever was still holding me… I never knew Marion had such a strong grip…

* * *

"So, am I allowed to ask how you were able to figure this out?" Jackle looked between NiGHTS and Reala as they stood in a small circle together under some trees that hide them well from anyones view.

"No. Just pay attention," Reala said. "I'm glad I met this girl. She has taught me a lot in the short time I've known her then I have throughout my entire existence… Under Wizeman that is…"

Reala paused, making NiGHTS exchange unsure glances with Jackle. NiGHTS has never heard him not refer to Wizeman as 'master', which worried her slightly, knowing something was obviously off. Also, the fact he was talking so highly of a human…

"I never understood why you did it… Until now…" Reala glanced at NiGHTS. "You do it because 'what is the point of life if you can't live it?'. I've seen this first hand and it truly is something different. We were taught to hate our entire lives. Because we were pushed under the thumb on a god that can't do anything himself… But, I do also understand that without humans, we could not exist. We are their fears, we are their nightmarens. They created us… Wizeman just taught us that for us to exist, we must make them fear us…

"But… What if we aren't really meant for that? What if we aren't meant to scare them? Maybe we really are here because we have to… protect them?" Reala looked between the two. "This whole time, I had this sense, this wanting to protect that human… And, never once under Wizeman's rule have I ever thought about protecting them… Maybe we don't have to live off their Ideya the way we do… They earned those from so much work… And, to take that away, what would they have left?"

NiGHTS looked really astonished. She wanted to be proud that Reala was finally taking off his mask that blinded him (not that he has it with him), but she just couldn't believe he actually did it… And, Jackle was thinking the whole thing over in his own mind.

"And, that got me thinking…" Reala went on. "If we don't have to be the threat, then what is the real threat? Could it really be the only thing we've ever known? What we thought was doing the right thing? Wizeman claims he created us, but… Aren't we really just the images that children make up? I know that sounds…" Reala paused. "What I'm trying to say is maybe we don't need to be the 'bad guys'." Reala finished.

"Okay, wait, what about Wizeman?" Jackle threw out the question of all questions at him just as he finished.

"Yeah… I'm glad you see it my way Reala, but… There is still that question. What about Wizeman? If he went down, he'd take us all with him. And, it would not end. Fear is apart of human life…" NiGHTS added.

"Then let that be our true purpose." Reala looked back at NiGHTS. "You've been helping children overcome fear. Then, maybe its about time we all started doing that…" Reala nodded.

Reala then turned his head to look at Jackle. "What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking about Wizeman. Do we just… Kill him?"

"Can he even be killed?" NiGHTS asked. "And… How would we even…?"

Reala thought back to when he was last in Nightmare, which was some time ago. All the times he had cowered under his master, he never really got to ever marvel at the strange being.

"He couldn't have just appeared one day… Something must have created him, or him himself… But, with what?" Reala thought back over his masters appearance. It could be anything…

"This seems a bit… Much…" Jackle then spoke up again. "Humans aren't that bad, even I'll admit. But… Something still isn't right. And, it won't be that simple… I agree with Reala, but Wizeman is all I've ever known. Lets say we somehow 'shut him down' or whatever, then what? We turn our ways and help humans? From what? We've always been the threat…"

"I'm more then sure our little world is not the only one…" Reala closed his eyes in thought. "I have these… feelings… That there is something we don't know. I feel like all of a sudden, we've been lied to this whole time… What if Wizeman really can be defeated without destroying us?"

"And, what if it does destroying us?" Jackle questioned.

"Then…" Reala made up his mind after all this time. "I'm willing to go down with him…"

* * *

A/N: I'm sorry for being out for a really long time. My inspiration for this died around the new year and ever since I've almost been avoiding it. But, I also really enjoy writing this, so I came back, just for you guys. I know now that I do want to write a sequel story for this and I know what it will be about, so this might only have a few more chapters left on it. I am glad you guys are still reading, if you are, and all the new readers that just keep coming! I love you all and you guys are great motivation. I hope you are still enjoying my writing (which has gotten better since the first chapter) and my story!

Allssooo~ on another side note, I noticed that my profile picture is no longer the picture for the story. (which is upsetting since I just changed it :P) Soo, any cover ideas? I'm not a great artist, but... I don't know what I want for the cover, any suggestions? Let me know. I was thinking an asylum hallway...


	15. Remembrance

The definition of _Remembrance_:

1\. A recollection /Something that serves to bring to mind

2\. The action of remembering the dead, especially in a ceremony

3\. A momento or keepsake

* * *

Is this what it's like to be dead? Its so cold… and I can't feel anything, I can't see anything, I can't hear anything, can't say anything… Even though I couldn't feel anything or move, there was a cold presents surrounding me… And, to be honest, I don't much like it…

I was trying to think, my mind was racing, seeing Marion's face _over _and _over. _His sleeves rolled up to his elbows and he had his hands around my wrists, pushing me down as he gritted his teeth… He looked so angry… but mostly… _determined_… and that frightened me more… And… I really liked him… I trusted him… he helped me back to my full health, he helped me understand why I was suffering so much in my head…

Well I was in this cold place, I had a chance to look back at my life… I don't remember much but that white room and having a bitter hate and being so angry as a child… I couldn't recall a thing since I was 10, but I knew I was angry and hated that place… So many doctors and nurses, all covered in head to toe in white, all white…

It burned my eyes and when I told them that the white was too much. they started to turn the lights down more and I started to forgot what other colors looked like, unless they were black or white…

I never saw their faces either… They always had things wrapped over their mouths and big circles covering their eyes. They would have hair showing, but kept it covered up for the most part… They all looked the same, and I thought the male doctor was always the same doctor and the female nurse was always the same nurse until I heard their voices change over time… I never knew who was who or if it was someone different every single time…

But, for all the people that I could recall being different, there was a lot of people working there… for all the people working there, it seemed so lonely… _It was lonely_…

I didn't want to look at any memories since I knew it would be moments of silent thought, alone… Until something familiar yet unfamiliar caught my attention… There was a room, with a chair… a man, wearing the white uniform, and me, just a little child… The man would press the button and I would scream, even as I watched, I could not hear it, but it looked as painful as… as if I could still _feel _it… But, I never remember…

Then, another memory, a small room, the same padded white walls, but so, so, _so small_… I would cry when the little door was shut and the darkness would surround me… me again, so tiny and small looking… It looked like I was crying out for someone, but I didn't know who. And, I was so terrified of the darkness, as if it was going to eat me up… But… they never threw me in a small….

And another memory, where I was forcefully stipped down by two of them… they forced me down into a large metal tub… they pushed my head down under and waited before they brought me back up… They then kept pushing me down until one of them walked away and came back with another large bucket full of water, but they had little ice cubes in them… The ice cubes rained down on my head, making me jump in surprise as I could not see from my hair being in the way… But… they never…

But, they never, but, they never, but, they never… _But, they never_…

After I watched even more similar things happen that I never recalled, one thing came to my mind… Why? Why would they do these things when they knew I was upset? They knew it hurt, they knew I was scared, they just watched…

Then, I was suddenly in that white hallway. I remember that vaguely from my escape… I was in that short nightgown again and I could see my breath pass from my lips and disappear into thin air before my eyes. Just like the good old days, I suppose?

Then, I saw a man in uniform come from one of the many rooms down the never ending hallway. He looked in my direction and then the other, but he didn't seem to notice me. He locked the door behind him and sighed, pulling off his mask as he walked towards me. But, as he approached, he kept walking and seemed to pass right through me…

I turned and tried to call out to him, but I had no voice… But, I could move… so, I followed him down the endless hall until he came to another room with different doors and went through them. I ran to catch up, but by the time I got there, he slammed the door shut. As I was about to put my hands on the door to stop myself from running, I found my hands and arms go right through, followed by the rest of my body… it was as if I had dualized with Reala again, I was passing through everything…

I came into a large room filled with bookshelves that held gray books on them. I remember running in this room and grabbing my own file, until I lost it after being kidnapped… The man was still walking down until he turned to the left. I passed through the bookshelf on my left and saw him walking forward through this row. I followed and came to a stop as he himself stopped in front of a certain shelf and pulled the large book from a certain spot.

But, it was some sort of open book? There were pages inside, but they were not binded like a normal book. As if you could take out or put in whatever you wished… which is exactly what he had done. I walked closer to get a better look until I jumped in surprise to hear a voice behind me.

"You just get back from patient J12's room?" The other doctor asked as he pulled out a book on the opposite shelf, going through it in a similar manner.

"Yeah…" The doctor I followed sighed deeply and kept his eyes on the papers…

"So… how is she?"

"She's… not doing well… Hell, she's horrible, what am I saying… She never gets better… she always fights and she never shows any sign of response to anything else… she never listens, she never… We might as well just list her as brain dead…" He shook his head.

"She broke the record, you know…" The second doctor muttered.

"Yeah, I know… she has been here since she was twenty and it's been almost ten years… she's the longest to ever stay here… Usually the treatments take a few weeks, sometimes lasting six months, but that's rare… no one has ever been here longer than one year… I think we… have to look to… put her… down…" The first doctor ended slowly, but he looked full of regret and hesitant, but mostly guilt.

The other doctor looked at him, not responding.

"Its just… I don't want to! But, she is hurting herself! And, her child…The father is taking care of the child… He brings her all the time to see the mother… she smiled the first year she was her when she saw them, but now she barely even realizes they exist… it's a horrible sight… the father no longer comes here and he was worried about the daughter's well being, she had been acting strange, just as the mother had, he feared she had already developed the illness… they are bringing her in…"

The second doctor sighed and closed his eyes, putting the book back in the its spot he collected it from. "Will you be looking after her as well?" He asked.

"No, they are taking me off the case since they don't want me getting attached… it's a little too late for that…" He pulled a small card from his pocket and looked at it.

The second doctor said nothing as he turned and left the room and left the first doctor alone. I walked towards him and stood on my tippy toes to look at what he held. There was a picture of a little girl, sitting on someones lap. She had long, light brown hair and hazel eyes, but her skin was not as pale as mine… but… it was… me…

"Poor thing… no mother, the father is scared to keep her… this is no life for a child…"

Then, everything faded away and I was back in the darkness of my mind again… What is the point of all this? Why do I need to know this? Perhaps if this is what death is it wants me to know before I fade away… But, to my surprise, there were more memories, memories I had not recognized… I was preparing to dive into them as I had before, but I felt myself being pulled back.

I tried to hold on, to cling on for just a moment long, so I might try and get to those places in my mind, but whatever was pulling me would not let go… and, so… I had to watch as those images got smaller and smaller from my view and I was drowned in a bright light…

Drown… is that what happened? I drowned? I could finally move, but barely. I tried to raise my hand, but my muscles fell limp…

"She's moving! Petal, wake up! Don't worry it will be okay!" I heard a voice. Who's voice? Too sweet and subtle to be Reala and not high pitched enough to be Jackle or NiGHTS… A warm voice that I found much comfort in… Theodore?

'She's moving!' he said… so, he was talking to someone else? But, I only felt one person near me, no one else… I groaned as I tried to move again, to open my eyes, to speak, but it was just mutters and mumbles…

"Get back here, you bastard!" I heard Reala off in the distance. "I will end your pointless life if it's the last thing I do!"

"NiGHTS…" I heard Jackle. "Could he have been the spy all along? I never liked him or trusted him… pretty good idea to pose as a doctor too…"

"JACKLE! This is not the time to admire! We have to get him before he gets away, hurry!" I heard NiGHTS's voice fade into the distance and heard no more from anyone else.

I felt Theodore's hands on my face as he gently shook me. "Oh, petal… I know it's not really the time to say this, but I could never say it with anyone else around… I couldn't even say it if you were conscious, but I really like you… You're so sweet and nice to me… everyone else thinks I'm pointless… I really want you to stay, but I suppose that's impossible, seeing as those three own you… More specifically, Reala… But, please don't die! Just… open… your… eyes…"

* * *

A/N: ... Ay! So, I'm back! Heh... Yeah, I needed some time alone, but I never meant it to be this long, believe me. I really want to write my own stories and I got caught up in that and I almost forgot about this! And, I know people out there would like me to finish this, so I cannot abandon this now! I'll try and update more often. Not _tooo _often, but I won't disappear for months again... Really sorry about that guys...

So, since I'm wrapping this up, I suppose I needed a chapter to explain everything, if you had not guessed it already, that is. So, in short to explain more: All those horrible blackouts she has been having where she has those horrible things happen to her were in fact based on real memories, meaning they had actually happened to her. There is more, but I want to save that as material for my follow up story (which I am still planning on doing, but it won't be this long).

Glad you are still reading if you decided to stay and or wait! Thanks for reading and I love ya all~!


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